Also known as the CPA Fundamentals Programme on Parliamentary Practice and Procedure, the McGill Professional Development Certificate in Parliamentary Governance continues to be delivered by McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies through its partnership with the CPA. 

This award-winning professional development certificate programme is designed for newly-elected Members of Parliament and seeks to provide participating parliamentarians with greater depth of knowledge of parliamentary practice and procedure and practical knowledge of international good practice.

The programme is delivered through online learning and a one week residency programme at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In 202, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course was delivered entirely online. 

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This second programme is also delivered by the McGill School of Continuing Studies in partnership with the CPA.

The Professional Development Programme in Parliamentary Management is a fully online non-credited programme for clerks and parliamentary staff. In 2020, the programme was completed online and the curriculum utilised the latest e-learning technologies, including interactive video conferencing, pre-recorded lectures and discussion forums. The programme consists of six moderated online courses of 6-weeks.

The course seeks to aid parliamentary staff and officials to:

• support the work of parliamentarians
• contribute to strengthening parliamentary governance in your country
• apply successful research and policy analysis methods while contributing to the legislative process
• exchange best practices with parliamentarians from around the world.

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In October 2020, the CPA Headquarters Secretariat signed an agreement with the Civil Service College to expand our portfolio of support to Members through a new residency-based course aimed at newly appointed Ministers and aspiring Parliamentarians.

The five-day programme, developed jointly by the CPA and the Civil Service College, aims to equip new ministers with a skill set and tools in managing a department comprising of hundreds of public servants and a budget of billions.

The programme will cover a combination of classroom engagements and experiential learning through study/field visits.

The course is delivered once a year in London, UK, beginning in 2022.

"This new programme, that the CPA is supporting in partnership with the Civil Service College, will provide a unique opportunity for professional development for Government Ministers and bring new skills and tools to the role. As a former UK Government Minister myself, I know the effectiveness of individual Ministers can depend on their skills and so this programme is likely to have a significant impact on their effectiveness."

Stephen Twigg, CPA Secretary-General

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The Advanced Parliamentary Theory and Practice course by the International School for Government, King’s College, London is a fully online, credited course for clerks and parliamentary staff. This shorter, 50-hour course is aimed to introduce participants to the functions that parliamentary officials are required to perform and utilises a range of interactive online activities to support learning. The course was launched for the first time on the margins of the 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Kampala, Uganda.

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Delivered by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the University of London (IALS-UoL) and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) the Advanced Certified Course on Post-Legislative Scrutiny explores in-depth the theory and practice of post-legislative scrutiny as an oversight tool. The course adopts a holistic outlook that places post-legislative scrutiny in the legislative cycle. 

The course covers:

• Introduction to PLS
• PLS in context: PLS, the law-making process and executive-legislative relations
• PLS within the parliamentary system
• Triggers for PLS, including sunset and review clauses
• Consultation, public engagement and data collection in the context of PLS
• Thematic approaches to PLS
• PLS and Sustainable Development Goals
• PLS as a tool for CSO’s

The course is delivered online and is aimed at:

• Members of Parliament and senior staff of Parliaments worldwide
• Parliamentary development practitioners, legal and governance experts
• Academics and researchers from universities across the Commonwealth and beyond

The AGORA eLearning Portal for Parliamentary Development was established initially as part of a partnership led by UNDP and supported by the CPA. Originally created to act as an international repository of learning materials, the Agora Portal has expanded into eLearning. In partnership with the Inter Pares Project: Parliaments in Partnership is the EU’s Global Programme to Strengthen the Capacity of Parliaments the courses include:

• Parliamentary Oversight
• Climate Change and Environmental Protection
• Legislative Drafting
• Comparative Law-making

Access to these free to use courses can be found here and are available to Inter Pares stakeholder legislatures.