Pre Legislative Consultation Policy

Pre Legislative Consultation Policy brought in 2014 aims at making pre-legislative scrutiny more effective. When a normal bill is introduced in the Parliament it goes through the following phases before being finalized into an act.

• Briefly, the pre-legislative scrutiny takes place before the final drafting of a bill has been decided and is introduced in the Parliament. Only a few bills receive an effective scrutiny, hence the government brought this policy.

Some Important Features of the Policy

• Every Department/Ministry shall proactively publish the proposed legislations both on the internet as also through other means;

• The Department/Ministry concerned shall publish in public domain all the information i.e. brief justification for such legislation, essential elements of the proposed legislation, its broad financial implications, and an estimated assessment of the impact of such legislation on environment, fundamental rights, lives and livelihoods of the concerned/affected people, etc.
• Such details may be kept in the public domain for a minimum period of thirty days for being proactively shared with the public in such manner as may be specified by the Department/Ministry concerned.
• Every draft legislation or rules, placed in public domain through pre-legislative process should be accompanied by an explanatory note explaining key legal provisions in a simple language.
• The summary of feedback/comments received from the public/other stakeholders should also be placed on the website of the Department/Ministry concerned.
• The policy is just a directive that must be followed sincerely to ensure proper consultative and participative formulation of laws, which indirectly will help in strengthening the roots of vibrant democracy.