Lecture # 8 Delegated Legislation
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Lecture # 8 Delegated legislation By: Salik Aziz Vaince [0313-7575311] Introduction . It is true that the main function of the executive is to enforce laws but in certain cases, the power of making rules is delegated to the various departments of the government. Delegated legislation is becoming more and more important in modern times. Delegated legislation is legislation or law that is passed otherwise than in Parliament but with the authority of parliament. That authority is given in the parent Act known as enabling Act which creates the basic framework and the delegates the powers to the other bodies to make detailed law in that area. In the United Kingdom, Instead, an enabling Act (also known as the parent Act) confers a power to make delegated legislation on a Government Minister or another person or body. Several thousand pieces of delegated legislation are made each year, compared with only a few dozen Acts of Parliament. Delegated legislation can be used for a wide variety of purposes, ranging from relatively narrow, technical matters, to filling in the detail of how an Act setting out broad principles will be implemented in practice. Parliament passes A Parent Act This Act gives the right to create one of the following types of delegated legislation. Orders in Council Statutory Bylaw made by made by Queen Instrument made Local Authority and Privy Council by Govt. Ministers Definition . Delegated legislation is law made by an executive authority under powers delegated from a legislature by enactment of primary legislation; the primary legislation grants the executive agency power to implement and administer the requirements of that primary legislation. ©VLC Publishers www.vlc.com.pk Page 1 Need of Delegated Legislation and Causes of its Growth . The concept of state has changed and instead of talking about a police state, we think in terms of a welfare state. This change in outlook has multiplied the functions of the government. This involves the passing of more laws to achieve the ideal of welfare state. Formerly, every bill used to be a small one but civilization has become so complicated that every piece of legislation has to be detailed. The rise in the number and size of the bills to be passed by Parliament has created a problem of time. Also the formal legislative process requiring readings in both Houses of Parliament is not suitable where there is an emergency. For these reasons it is necessary for parliament to delegate law making power to people and bodies who are better equipped to make the necessary detailed legal reforms. Parent (or enabling Act) by this piece of primary legislation, parliament gives authority to others to make law. The parent act will enable further laws to be made under this authority. The enabling Act contains the outline framework of the new law. That authority lies Within the Act for specific person (such as a Government Minister) or body (such as a local authority) to make further more detailed laws. There are many factors of its growth which are as below: 1. Pressure of work- Parliament is an extremely busy body. It is overloaded and burdened with legislative work. It has to enact so many legislation that it can hardly look into detail of every law. The time available for drafting bills to be passed into law by parliament is not adequate. If an attempt is made to draft detailed bills within a short period, the drafting is bound to be defective. No wonder power is delegated to the departments concerned to issue orders-in-council which can be made at leisure and which can be expected to be logical and intelligible. Delegating legislation allows law to be made more quickly than parliament, which is vital for times of emergency. Parliament takes longer as it does not sit all the time and its procedures is generally quite slow and complex due to the several stages each bill has to pass through. Delegated legislation can also be amended or revoked relatively easily, so that the law can be kept up to date and so that the law can meet future needs that arise such as areas concerning welfare benefits, illustrating a great deal of flexibility in the system. Otherwise statutes can only be amended or revoked by another complicated and time-consuming statute. Relieves pressure on Parliamentary time. It is realized that all this legislation cannot be enacted even if the members of parliament are prepared to work day and night. The result is that Parliament resorts to the device of passing skeleton bills and leaving the work of filling in the details to the departments concerned. 2. Technicality of subjects - Modern legislation is becoming highly technical and it is too much to expect that the ordinary members of Parliament will appreciate all the implications of modern legislation. Except a few experts in certain lines, the other members of parliament are bound to bungle if they attempt to do the impossible. Some of the legislations required to be enacted may be technical in nature. The members of the legislature do not enjoy expertise over every subject. MPs do not usually have the technical knowledge/expertise required in for example drawing up laws on controlling technology, ensuring environmental safety, and dealing with different industrial problems or ©VLC Publishers www.vlc.com.pk Page 2 operating complex taxation schemes whereas delegated legislation can use experts who are familiar with the relevant areas. Jacqueline Martin has suggested instead for parliament to debate the main principles thoroughly, but leave the detail to be filled in by those who have expert knowledge of it. The ‘Commons can concentrate on important laws, rather than technicalities under the circumstances, it is considered safe to approve of general principles of legislation and leave the details to the department concerned. 3. To meet unforeseen/emergency situations - There might arise certain emergency were adjustments are required in the prevailing law urgently or frequently. The process of amendment in the Parliament is a very time consuming and lengthy procedure. Delegated Legislation gives power of adaptation in new situations. ‘The practice further, is valuable because it provides for a power of adaption of unknown future condition without the necessity of amending the legislation. The method the delegated legislation permits for the rapid utilization of experience, and enables the rules of consultation with interests affected by the operation of new acts to be translated into practice. It is impossible for Parliament to meet all emergency situations, so it is required to giver powers to concerned department. 4. Flexibility- In case of delegated legislation changes in the legislation take place more frequently and without delay, this is not possible in legislation by parliament. Moreover, the implementation of law becomes easier and flexible by means of delegated legislation. Delegated legislation is necessary for a number of reasons; parliament does not have time to contemplate and debate every small detail of complex regulations, as it only has a limited amount of time to pass legislation, delegating legislation will allow however thoroughly debated regulations to pass through as well as saving parliamentary time. Delegated legislation gives flexibility to law and it is best way to adjust the laws in the light of experience in relevant area. Can be made at any time, as opposed to Acts that must be timetabled 5. To fulfill local needs - Another argument for the need of delegated legislation is that parliament may not always be the best institution to recognize and deal with the needs of local people. As a result local people elect councilors from certain districts and it is their responsibility to pass legislation in the form of by-laws to satisfy local needs. That Law made by local authorities with the proper local knowledge. Moreover, full knowledge of the local conditions may not be available to the Parliament at the time of passing the law. 6. Speed – Delegated legislation can be made with more speed as compared to Parliament legislation. Contrast to average 9 months for Parliamentary statute. Food Protection Order 1986- 2 hours. 7. Future needs – Delegated legislation fulfills future needs very easily, that may not be catered for by statute. What delegated legislation does? . Delegated legislation allows the Government to make changes to a law without needing to push through a completely new Act of Parliament. The original Act (also known as primary legislation) would have provisions that allow for future delegated legislation to alter the law to differing degrees. ©VLC Publishers www.vlc.com.pk Page 3 . These changes range from the technical, like altering the level of a fine, to fleshing out Acts with greater detail; often an Act contains only a broad framework of its purpose and more complex content is added through delegated legislation. Making of Delegated Legislation . Delegated legislation is usually made by being signed by the person making it (or an authorized delegate of that person, for example a Senior Member of the Civil Service, although in the case of Orders in Council the verbal assent of the Queen is sufficient. Most delegated legislation is required (by the parent Act) to be made using a Statutory Instrument. This ensures that the legislation is catalogued and (apart from a few exceptions) published by the Queen's Printer, thereby making it available to the public as a whole. However where delegated legislation is of only limited application (for example, most Directions and by-laws), and therefore not of general importance, the parent Act may not require that it be made using a Statutory Instrument. Instead, other provisions may be made for publishing the legislation. So, for example, an Order providing for the transfer of contracts from one National Health Service body to another may only be notified to the affected bodies, and by-laws made by a local council may be publicized through an announcement in local newspapers.