Discuss the Advantages of Delegated Legislation (SA P2)

Question 1

Main structure of P1

Answer 1

• Point: saves parliamentary time
• Example: 30-40 acts a year. 3000 SI made annually
• Counter argument: undemocratic

Question 2

Main structure of P2

Answer 2

• Point: easy to amend
• Example: minimum wage or limits for legal aid
• Counter argument: large volume and lack of publicity

Question 3

Main structure of P3

Answer 3

• Point: allows consultation
• Example: road traffic laws will benefit from consulting the police
• Counter argument: length and expense of judicial review

Question 4

Main structure of P4

Answer 4

• Point: access to technical expertise
• Example: necessary in a rapidly changing modern society
• Counter argument: difficult wording

Question 5

Saves parliamentary time

Answer 5

• Parliament focuses on major issues/broader policies, not bogged down in detail
• Doesn’t have time to consider/debate every small detail
• SI can complete detail of the framework act, or deal with regular changes (e.g annual changes to minimum wage)

Question 6

e.g for saves parliamentary time

Answer 6

• Passes 30-40 acts a year
• 3000 SI made annually

Question 7

Counter argument of undemocratic

Answer 7

• Law making taken away from democratically elected HOC
• Allows non-elected people to make law
• Limited scrutiny in Parliament

Question 8

Easy to amend

Answer 8

• Can be amended/revoked easily when necessary so law can be kept up to date
• Parliament not appropriate forum to deal with constant review/updating of administrative matters

Question 9

e.g for easy to amend

Answer 9

Useful where monetary limits have to change each year, for example minimum wage or limits for legal aid

Question 10

Counter argument of large volume and lack of publicity

Answer 10

• 3000 SI made annually
• Despite internet, can be hard to find a piece of DL and when it came into force
• Aggravated by lack of publicity: much DL is made in private and passed through parliament without debate

Question 11

Allows consultation

Answer 11

• Brings in expertise and public opinion
• Particularly for rules on technical matters, where is necessary to make sure regulations are technically workable

Question 12

e.g for allows consultation

Answer 12

• Road traffic laws can benefit from consulting police (who will have to enforce the rules)
• Motoring organisations who can reflect views of motorists

Question 13

Counter argument of length and expense of judicial review

Answer 13

• No legal aid available for this procedure
• Person must have sufficient standing or interest before a case can be launched

Question 14

Access to technical expertise

Answer 14

• Allows technical matters to be dealt with by properly qualified experts
• DL can be used to fill in gaps of primary legislation and experts consulted for specific/complex detail
• Necessary in a rapidly changing modern society

Question 15

Counter argument of difficult wording

Answer 15

• Complex/obscure wording
• Leads to difficulty in understanding what the law means
• Rules of SI may have to be used by courts when they need to understand meaning of this form of legislation

Question 16

Conclusion

Answer 16

In conclusion, while there are many negative sides to DL (especially concerning the undemocratic nature of DL), it can be argued that due to the saving of parliamentary time and the access to technical expertise, it is a positive.

Question 17

What is DL?

Answer 17

• Parliament does not have the time to deal with every new law that is required, so it delegates some of its law making powers to secondary bodies
• The power for them to create new law on Parliament’s behalf is done through an enabling Act