The IAK (Integraal Afwegingskader beleid en regelgeving) is a Dutch impact analysis tool. This tool has been developed by the Dutch government to provide structure for civil servants in formulating sound policy and legislation. Using the IAK highlights all relevant information at the decisive moments in the policy-making process. The IAK consists of 7 questions, which are divided into 3 phases: Problem analysis, Choice of intervention, Impact assessment. In addition to being a working method, the IAK is also a source of background information and tools which can be used to properly prepare policy and legislation. It can be found on the Dutch government website www.naarhetiak.nl. The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security has created an IAK-booklet, based on this website, to support Dutch civil servants in the legislative and policy drafting process.
The English version of the booklet has been produced in April 2017 in cooperation between the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security and the Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC). This booklet has been developed for a training on legislative drafting that is part of the Shiraka Programme, developed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The booklet will help you with the practical implementation of the IAK questions at the start of a policy or legislation process. For each question, one side of the card states why answering that specific question is important and what you are supposed to do. It also gives a suggestion for a type of working method you can apply. The other side of the card deals in more detail with answering the question and what you should look out for. A brief description of the possible working methods is provided in the last part of the booklet.
Please contact iak@kcwj.nl if you have any questions