Best practice model for developing legislation

Abstract

The history of attempted improvements to legislative design and the design systems of a number of OECD members, including New Zealand’s, inform the best practice model. Regulatory and legislative failures are analysed to discover common denominators, with solutions suggested. Likewise, common denominators in successful international and other national transport safety programmes are included. The model integrates systems and behavioural analysis into regulatory design, regulation monitoring and adjustment mechanisms. The design process is situated within the broader legal system and incorporates drafting. A red, yellow and green light system avoids failure factors. A regulatory tool library includes a suite of regulatory interventions with advice on their use, including differentiating between the behavioural drivers of humans and artificial entities. It recommends the EU’s and Australia’s centralisation of expertise and cross fertilisation of regulatory experience together with early inclusion of civil society and other stakeholders for buy-in and optimal use of systems analysis in developing innovative, effective and resilient regulation. Finally, New Zealand’s regulatory management system overregulates regulators, impeding flexible regulation for changing conditions and value per tax dollar.