Legislative Drafting Manual

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
Time and/or procedures of applications;

Persons or organs responsible for the implementation of the law;
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Applicable Forms to be used;
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Period of limitation;
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Dispute settlement procedures;
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Etc…
e. Penalty and Sanctions Clause
i. 
A drafter who drafts criminal statutes, either in or out of the Criminal 
Code should be thoroughly familiar with the style and contents of the 
Criminal Code and the Sentencing provisions therein.
ii. 
Good drafting style requires a drafter to specify both the class and 
the penalty for any crime/offense the drafter creates outside the 
Criminal Code. So, the drafter should as far as possible use the 
categories of offenses already established in the Criminal Code.
iii. 
With the purpose to create some uniformity between the sentencing 
authorities for crimes/offenses found in the Criminal Code and those 
found outside the Criminal Code, a drafter should conform the 
penalty to that in the sentencing provisions of the Criminal code. A 
good drafting technique to achieve this purpose will be as follows:-
“…is guilty of a………degree offense, and shall be sentenced 
in accordance with Article(s) ……of the Criminal Code.” 
iv. 
When drafting outside the Criminal Code, if the drafter wants to 
provide a different penalty than that specified in the Criminal Code, 
the recommended style is to provide a penalty ceiling up to which 
the judge can sentence. A standard penalty clause for this purpose 
will be as follows:-
“…shall be punished by a fine of not more than…….or by 
imprisonment for a definite term 
not exceeding…..period, or 
both.” 
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In the above type of provision, avoid using the expression “or to both such fine 
and imprisonment in the discretion of the judge” because the phrase “or both” 
express the same thing in a much simpler way. 
v. 
One important consideration for a drafter of criminal penalties is 
whether the penalty fits the crime.
vi. 
Arrangement wise, a penalty relating to only one section should be 
placed in that section, whereas a penalty pertaining to several 
sections or to an entire law should be put in a separate section.
vii. 
For crimes/offenses of corporate bodies outside the Penal Code, the 
same rules shall apply as for natural persons. 
viii. 
A law may have both criminal and civil (administrative) penalties, 
and civil penalties are placed in the same position in a law as 
criminal penalties.
ix. 
When drafting civil (administrative) penalties, the drafter should 
specify the amount of the penalty, and as to how the administrative 
agency may enforce compliance. The drafter should also incorporate 
the procedures for protesting and appealing, including the provision 
of a hearing and appeal to a state court. 
x. 
When imposing penalties is the sole purpose of the draft law, it is a 
good drafting practice to mention in the Title that the law provides 
penalties, particularly when criminal penalties are incorporated in the 
draft.