ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that the statement by G. C. Thornton, that 'the scrutiny and testing of a draft bill is necessary but there is need for a great deal of self-discipline which will require 10-20 drafts to attain a final draft', is not workable in the current system that drafters operate. It intends to look at what eminent authors in legislative drafting have written on the subject of pre-legislative scrutiny of legislation. Legislation must significantly be able to pass strict scrutiny tests by all parties concerned before it can become effective. In order to ensure that the legislation passes the scrutiny tests, it cannot be denied that this heavy task is borne by the drafter. It should be noted that on reading most authors in legislative drafting, one comes out thinking that pre-legislative drafting is not a major concern as there seems to be a lot of concern with scrutiny as it relates to Parliament or post-legislatively, but not much pre-legislation.
