Introduction

Legislative Consulting Services offers training in legislative drafting theory, methodology, and techniques. Mark Hamilton is a professional legislative drafter by training and has expertise in policy development, all aspects of legislative drafting, review, and analysis. He was a nonpartisan professional legislative drafting attorney in the Office of Legislative Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives for 4 years. He was also staff legal counsel for the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee of the Washington State Legislature in the United States.

Internationally, Mr. Hamilton has worked on legislative issues and training in Afghanistan, Iraq, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Rwanda, and the West Bank. He has worked in various roles as staff, contractor, and consultant for programs and international organizations, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and others.

The beneficiaries of these efforts include the Afghanistan’s National Assembly, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, and Independent Election Commission, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Justice, Rwanda’s Parliament and Ministry of Justice, Iraq’s Council of Representatives, Timor-Leste’s National Parliament, as well as civil society and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Expertise

Policy development, legislation, legislative drafting, legislative procedure, parliamentary development, training, legal research, curriculum development, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), legislative and parliamentary procedure, congressional and parliamentary budget processes, US constitutional law, Afghanistan law and regulations, international treaties, international public law, international criminal law.

Policy Development and Legislative Drafting

Mark Hamilton has extensive academic training and practical experience in policy development and legislative drafting. Generally, policy development focuses on identification, explanation, and resolution (often through legislation) of a social problem that needs addressing — with a focus on improving legislative effectiveness by use a systematic problem-solving methodology.  This methodology was originally developed by the late Professor Emeritus Robert Seidman and his wife Professor Ann Seidman of Boston University School of Law, who developed their methodology through decades of experience teaching legislative theory and techniques all over the world. The problem-solving methodology is an evidence-based, practical, straightforward, and effective means for addressing social problems through legislation. And it can be used regardless of the system or level of government responsible for the legislation. It can also be used by nongovernmental organizations and others to assist legislative bodies in preparing legislation or to independently develop proposals for presentation to governmental officials.