Delegated legislation Flashcards
What is delegated legislation?
Where parliament gives powers to another body by passing and enabling act
Any act of parliament that gives lawmaking power to another body, this is an enabling act
The types
Bylaws
Statutory instruments
Ordering council
Who are bylaws made by and example?
They are made by local authorities such as county councils in relation to local matters
E.g. the clean neighbourhoods and environment act 2005 they delegated to local councils to designate poop scoop areas
They are also made by public corporations in relation to their activities
E.g. the transport act 2000 and they delegated power to the strategic railway authority to make railway bylaws
Statutory instruments, who are they made by and examples
They are made by government ministers for the areas of responsibility
Employment rights act 1996
Time of the public duties order 2018
Main use
To give effect to EU laws – European communities act 1972
The control of trade in endangered species regulations 2018
They use it to update law
E.g. national minimum wage at 1998 – national minimum wage amendment regulations 1918
Respond to developments
European communities act 1972
Delegates power to government ministers to make statutory instruments to export control (North Korea sanctions) order 2018
Orders and council, who are they made by and examples
They are made by the king and privy Council underpowers delegated to them by an enabling act
The privy council is a body made up of senior politicians who are all used to be in the House of Commons or the House of Lords
to keep up events
Miss use of drugs at 1974 delegated power to government ministers to add new chemical compounds to list of band substances
Misuse of drugs act (amendment) order 2017
Deals with emergencies
Energy act 1976 allowed
Energy at 1976 (reserve power) order 2000 to be made
Other reasons
Tribunals courts and enforcement act 2000 – transfer of tribunal functions order 2013
Advantages
It saves parliamentary time by removing the burden of legislation on every single issue
– This is important because parliament does not have enough time to make all the laws that are needed
– Furthermore this means that parliament can concentrate on issues of national importance rather than technical or local matters
Delegated legislation may ensure that laws are made by those with relevant expertise
– For example health and safety laws for different industries need to be relevant and accurate delegated legislation allows people to understand that particular industries to draft them
– Also laws that affect local areas are made by local authorities who understand the need of that area. This means that laws are more likely to be accurate and fit for those purpose.
Delegated legislation can be implemented quickly in contrast of the process of passing an act of parliament – can take up to a
Year
– This is important because an emergency parliament may not be able to write laws quickly enough
– E.g. Afghanistan (United Nations sanctions) order 2001 is an example of the use of an order in council to deal quickly with travel/supply of arms to that country when the situation required a speedy response
Disadvantages
It is unDemocratic - critics argue that in reality delegated legislation is not made by elected MPs but by an elected civil servants or democratic bodies such as the privy council
– This is a problem because these officials are not accountable to the electorate they cannot be voted out if they make him a mistake
– This is particularly problematic if an enabling act delegates to amend or repeal of parliament as appears to be the case with the European union withdrawal bill
It is overused
The share volume of delegated legislation is hard to keep up with – typically 3000 stat instruments are past each year although this has slowed a little recently
– this is problematic as ordinary people may not be able to work out what the law is
– This can be argued to be contrary to the rule of law which states that the law should be ascertainable
There is a lack of effective control over delegated legislation which means that poor lawmaking may not be corrected
– E.g. the public may be unaware of delegated legislation and how to change it. This limits the usefulness of judicial review
– This limits the usefulness of judicial review and the wide power given to ministers by some enabling act may challenging it harder still this contrary to the separation of powers
