Mathematical language can leverage legal drafting: ICTA Chairman Prof. Epasinghe

The language of mathematics can be effectively adapted to suit the requirements of legislative drafting, says ICTA Chairman and Senior Presidential Advisor Prof. P. W. Epasinghe.

One of the brightest mathematicians of Asia, the Professor made the ground-breaking statement at the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel 2011 Asian Region Conference held in Colombo recently (28).

“I have had the experience of drafting many regulations and bye-laws at the university where I retired from. They have stood the test of time in a university environment with a very active Faculty of Law. The language of mathematics is generally well known for clarity and the resulting lack of ambiguity, precision and brevity. Mathematicians are trained to carefully look for all the possibilities, which can arise in a given situation, deal with each of them and provide for their resolution. The language of mathematics, I believe, can be effectively adapted to suit the requirements of legislative drafting,” he pointed out.

Knowledge hub vision

Addressing this conference themed ‘Drafting in the Asian Region: Challenges and Possibilities,’ organised by the Legal Draftsman Department of Sri Lanka, the Professor said at the outset: “I find the theme to be very appropriate at a time when Sri Lanka has emerged into an era where we are moving rapidly towards a knowledge economy, based on the knowledge hub vision articulated in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana – ‘Vision for the Future.’”

“I understand from the background information provided to me, that some of the original steps connected with the formation of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel were taken way back in 1983, at a law ministers’ meeting in Sri Lanka. So I hope, another ground-breaking initiative in transforming the legislative drafting process by making effective use of the tools of ICT and a suitable adaptation of mathematical language while adhering to common standards and best practices could be considered at this conference,” he suggested.

Improving efficiency

Explaining how serious barriers to efficient Government administration were removed by legislation, the ICTA Chairman said: “In the deployment and implementation of ICT applications across Government to improve the efficiency in the delivery of Government services, significant barriers were perceived in terms of legal recognition of such activities. To overcome this barrier, Sri Lanka enacted dynamic legislation as manifested in the Electronic Transactions Act No.19 of 2006.”

“In doing so, the legislative draftsman was successful in adopting the features of the ‘UN Conference on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts’. This has ensured that Sri Lanka’s legislation on Electronic Commerce is at the forefront in terms of international norms and best practices, making it easy for us to ratify this conference,” he added.

“In the banking sector, the legislative draftsman has played a leading role in paving the way for Public Debt settlement as well as Cheque Trunking in electronic forms. All of these required legislation to ensure greater certainty and integrity of those transactions. This was achieved through a series of legislative changes, most notably the Payment and Settlements Act (2005), Monetary Law (Amendment) Act (2002) and the Local Treasury Bills (Amendment) Act of 2004, coupled with the Evidence Amendment Act No. 29 of 2005.”

Link between ICT and legislative drafting

Moving on to show the close link between ICT and legislative drafting, the Professor stated: “Having said that, it is also important to bear in mind that we are in an era where technology tools would be used to improve efficiency in the delivery of Government services. There is no reason why ICT should not enter the legislative drafting arena, so that the Draftsman’s Department could keep pace with development, while improving in the delivery of its services. I understand that we have not made much progress in this connection and I hope this conference will have concrete implementable conclusions which will result in better coordination to ensure that information technology is used as a whole for legislative drafting processes.”

In conclusion, the Professor expressed ICTA’s readiness to support the members of the legal profession to adopt ICT to leverage delivery of service to the public: “In the case of information technology, we at ICTA stand ready to support the legislative draftsmen and the luminaries in the judicial and legal sectors to adopt ICT as a tool so as to give efficiency and better the quality of the delivery of services, in accordance with the development policy framework adopted by the Government.”