Drafting for Effectiveness: Tuvalu’s Climate Change Resilience Act 2019

Legislative effectiveness, that is, whether the law is able to achieve its intended result, is a key concept by which to assess legislative quality. The recently enacted Climate Change Resilience Act 2019 of the small Pacific jurisdiction of Tuvalu is assessed according to four criteria: purpose, content, context and results, promulgated by legislative scholar Mousmouti. Undertaking an in-depth and holistic assessment of its provisions, and acknowledging the impact of Tuvalu’s limited drafting resources and lack of settled and accepted legislative drafting guidelines, a mixed verdict is delivered on the Climate Change Resilience Act. The relationship between legislative effectiveness and implementation is also discussed.