Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) in collaboration with the Westminster Democracy Foundation (WFD) organized a Knowledge Sharing Session on Post Legislative Scrutiny and Delegated Legislation on 18 December, 2017 at PIPS, Islamabad. Honorable Senator Taj Haider, Chairman Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation, was the chief guest of the Session; Mr. Franklin De Vrieze, Senior Governance Adviser WFD, and Mr. David Thirlby, Senior Programme Manager, Asia Programmes WFD, were the expert panelists for the Session. The participants of the Session included officials from the Legislative Drafting Councils of the National Assembly and Senate. The Session aimed at deliberating upon the process of post legislative scrutiny and delegated legislation in Pakistan in context of international best practices.

Mr. Franklin De Vrieze, highlighted the role of post legislative scrutiny in effective implementation of laws. He presented a comparative analysis of the existing post legislative scrutiny mechanisms in different countries. In this regard, he explained that in many countries permanent committees have been established for post legislative scrutiny. The worthy panelist identified some important parameters in scrutinizing legislation. He further emphasized on the need to determine the scope of the delegated legislation. Honourable Senator Taj Haider, explicated the role of Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation and posited that the Committee was established to thoroughly review the delegated legislation. He emphasized on the importance of parliamentary oversight over delegated legislation to uphold the rule of law. The officials from the National Assembly and Senate also shared their views on the post legislative scrutiny and expressed their desire that proper parameters need to be introduced for appropriate delegated legislation process. In the wake of growing need for post legislative scrutiny, it was suggested that a comprehensive training programme should be devised in order to enable the parliamentary staff to carry out thorough post legislative review.

The interactive session ended with feedback from the participants and a farewell note by the Executive Director PIPS, Mr. Zafarullah Khan.