11 otherwise
enrich the legislative process through reviews of documents, sharing their perspectives, memos,
and comment. The
presence of legal experts is necessary to guide and facilitate the deliberations in agreement with local,
national, and international legal requirements related to fisheries. The legislation is expected to have
national, regional and international effects, therefore, expert knowledge and experiences in regional
and international legal issues is essential. Expert input andor financial contributions from multi
‐lateral organizations involved in fisheries of Somalia and the region, including FAO, EU, IMO, UNDP,
the World Bank and national and international non‐governmental organizations NGO involved in
fisheries would strengthen the participatory process. The
fishing communities, including fishermen, fisher women, community elders, fish processors and traders,
are the main beneficiaries of fisheries law in Somalia and Somaliland. Legislation would provide organized
services, a centralized, well‐funded fisheries management system, monitored and controlled national
fisheries resources base and a protected marine ecosystem devoid of foreign illegal, unreported,
unregulated IUU fishing. The legislative process would benefit from the rich traditional by‐ laws,
knowledge and first‐hand experiences of fishery communities through their participation in the legislative
process, while their participation would, no doubt, augment their knowledge and ownership of,
and adherence to, the legislation.
3.3 Legislation Drafting Conference
Selecting a drafting committee from among the stakeholders simplifies the process of fisheries
legislation. Such stakeholders include legal experts with knowledge of Somalia’s governance system and
national, regional and international fisheries. The Drafting Committee selects a chairperson and a
secretary, assigns subcommittees for detailed undertakings and in‐depth research pertinent to fisheries
resources management of Somalia. A clearly defined job description, definite timelines and resources
commensurate with the task are allotted to the drafting committee. The drafting committee would
develop an outline of a draft legal document to be discussed in the legislative stakeholder conference.
All relevant stakeholders must attend this conference. The conference will produce an all‐round draft
fisheries legislation that will address the aspirations of the Somali fishing communities and the nation.
Participants in the stakeholder conference must be representatives of a cross section of the fisheries
sector and related sectors of the economy. The stakeholder conference shall have two important
outcomes: a draft legislation and formation of a Fisheries Advisory Council FAC.
3.4 Draft Legislation
The stakeholder conference after discussing the outline presented by the Drafting Committee should
come out with a draft legislation that had inputs from all participants. This draft legal document would
be given to the lead federal agency—Ministry of Natural Resources Fisheries—including a list of all
participants and the minutes of all the meetings as supporting documents of the draft legislation. The
draft legislation would then be submitted by the Minister of Natural Resources Fisheries to the Office
12 of
the Prime Minister for submission to Federal Parliament for discussion and adoption as a law. According
to Article 80 Initiating New Laws of the Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia
of 2012, 1 Draft legislation at the National Level may be initiated, among others, by the Council
of Ministers FGS, 2012.
3.5 Fisheries Advisory Council
