Delegated legislation

Question 1

Specialist knowledge (Adv)

Answer 1

Cause:
Statutory instruments allow specific Government departments and ministers to make rules for their area of speciality.

Example:
Corona virus act 2020 allowed health minister to make rules to stop COVID spreading. Got help from medical scientists

Consequence:
This is good because these rules may require specialist knowledge to understand, which these specialists could. Parliament would struggle to implement these as they have a lack of knowledge.

Question 2

Numerous Controls (Adv)

Answer 2

Cause:
- scrutiny committee check statutory instruments for Parliament, and courts can declare DL ultra vires in some situations

Example:
- ATB v Aylesbury Mushrooms, correct procedure wasn’t followed, so the DL was declared void

Consequence:
- This is positive because it ensures that DL works in the way that Parliament intended

Question 3

Local areas (Adv)

Answer 3

Cause:
- By letting local areas decide by-laws they can assess the particular needs of the locals and respond correspondingly

Example:
- In a specific area there may be a problem with drinking. A local council, can then make that area an alcohol free zone.

Consequence:
- This is good because the law can be made by those who know the area and will have a better idea on how to solve the issues there.

Question 4

Ineffective Controls (Dis)

Answer 4

Cause:
- The scrutiny commitee can only refer problems to P and hope they decide to take action. Very few judicial reviews are successful

Example:
- In 2018: 3,600 reviews were requested. 184 went ahed, 40% of those were lost.

Consequence:
- This means that there may be a lot of bad DL being made that isn’t resolved

CA: I got nothing

Question 5

Difficult Wording (Dis)

Answer 5

Cause:
- DL can be long and complicated and requires judges to interpret the wording to fully understand them

Example:
- R v Swindon NHS Trust, the court had to decide here what was exceptionsal in relation to medical needs.

Consequence:
- This means that it is hard to the public to understand DL and it may be unclear how exactly they should apply in practice.

CA: Allows more freedom for the judge to interpret the law in each case.

Question 6

Volume and publicity (Dis)

Answer 6

Cause:
- Over 3000 SIs and several thousand by-laws are made each year, often with little publicity

Example
- British Airports Authority passed a by-law stopping anyone from taking tennis rackets onto planes. A passenger was fined for this even though he was unaware this was wrong.

Consequence:
- This is bad because it is impossible for the average person to be aware of all these laws, meaning individuals and companies may not know what is legal and illegal.

CA: no clue seems like a pretty bad issue

Question 7

Undemocratic

Answer 7

Cause:
- The privy council who make Orders in Council is made up of unelected judges, and bishops.
- SIs are also made by unelected civil servants.
- By laws are made by unelected public bodies like the london underground

Example:
- A SI was passed in 2012 by the Minister of Justice restricting the rights of immigrants to get legal aid. This SI was challenged in court, it was decided that it was made ultra vires.

Consequence:
- This is bad because it means that important laws such as the transfer of power and responsibility between government departments may not reprisent what the public wants

CA: Legislation can be made quicker this way

Question 8

What are the Adv and Dis?

Answer 8

Adv:
- Specialist knowledge
- Numerous Controls
- Local Areas
- saves parliament time

Dis:
- Ineffective Controls
- Difficult Wording
- Volume and Publicity
- Undemocratic