Legislative Drafting Manual

EXAMPLE:-A good example to demonstrate a Title containing all the above five 
elements is the following:- 
“Investment Incentives and Investment Areas Reserved for Domestic 
Investors Council of Ministers Regulations No. 84
/2003.” 
b. Exceptionally, however, the Title of a law may not contain some of the 
above elements. For example, the Titles of Proclamations in Ethiopia do 
not usually contain the name of the enacting institution in them.
EXAMPLE:-A good example to demonstrate a Title of a Proclamation without 
containing the name of the enacting institution is the following:- 
“Trade Practice Proclamation No. 329/2003.” 
Since this omission in our Proclamations is a significant one that needs 
immediate correction, a drafter is strongly advised to indicate the name of the 
enacting institution (i.e. t
he House of Peoples‟ Representatives) in the Title part. 
EXAMPLE:- The above cited Proclamation could have been drafted as 
follows:- 
www.abyssinialaw.com

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14 
“Trade Practice Proclamation No. 329/2003 of the House of Peoples’ 
Representatives
” 
3.1.3. Preamble  
Preamble is statement of reasons that justify the enactment of the law. It usually 
sets out relevant points of fact or of law followed by the conclusion that the 
measures provided in the enacting terms of the law should therefore be adopted. 
Sometimes, preamble may also refer to consultations made with some regulatory 
bodies, special concerned committees, etc… 
a. Each part of a Preamble or Recitals normally begins with the word 
“Whereas”, and ends with semi-colon.
b. When formulating preamble or recitals, proper care should be taken to 
ensure that they:-
i. 
Should constitute genuine statement of reasons, not the legal basis 
nor the wording of a provision already cited as a legal basis;
ii. 
Should not simply refer to reasons given for another law;
iii. 
Should relate to the substantive provisions of the law at hand; and
iv. 
Should not give individual reasons for each provision except in the 
case of some special provisions having special importance or which 
can not be covered or addressed by the general philosophy. For 
example, the following special provisions need to be given special 
attention while formulating preamble:-
 
Derogations;
 
Departures from general scheme of rules;
 
Exceptions to the General Principles (e.g. Retroactive 
Provisions);
 
Provisions prejudicial to certain interested group of the 
society.
c. The order of the preamble or the recitals should correspond as far as 
possible the order of the provisions for which the recitals stand.