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Delegated Legislation - Coggle Diagram
Delegated Legislation
Why is Delegated legislation needed?
Speed -
delegated legislation allows laws to be made more quickly than they could by parliament. Delegated legislation does not need to go through the complex legislative stages in the HOC and HOL. It is therefore more suitable to respond to emergencies. The most suitable type of delegated legislation in this instance would be Order in Council.
Knowledge -
Technical knowledge: parliament will probably not have the necessary technical expertise or knowledge required to pass detailed laws in most areas; for example, health and safety regulations in different industries need expert knowledge. It is thought that it is better for parliament to debate the main principles thoroughly but leave the detail to be filled in by those who have expert knowledge of it. In this situation, parliament would pass an Enabling Act allowing the relevant Government Ministers to pass a statutory instrument after consultation with experts.
Local Knowledge:
Parliamentary Time -
parliament does not have enough time to consider and debate every small detail of complex regulations. Parliament only has time to pass about 60-70 Acts of parliament a year, whereas there are about 3000 statutory instruments a year alone.
Flexibility -
3 Types of delegated legislation
Statutory Instruments
They are made by Government Ministers, parliament sets out the framework of law in an enabling act and the government minister can make detailed laws known as statutory instruments. There are about 15 departments in government, each one deals with a different area of policy and has the power to pass regulations in that area e.g. Education, Health and Transport.
Examples - Education Act 1996:
allows the secretary of state for education to use a statutory instrument to alter the national curriculum at an appropriate time.
or
Road Traffic Act 1988:
is a 'parent'/ enabling Act passed by parliament. This Act gives further powers to the secretary of state for transport to make more detailed laws in the area. A statutory instrument was created using these powers; this regulation banned the use if mobile phones whilst driving.
Bylaws
These are made by local councils to cover matters of local concern. It allows the authorities to make laws regarding behaviour in their area, Many local bylaws will involve control of issues such as parking, littering and dog poop.
Bylaws can also be made by public corespondents, this means that bodies such as the British Airports Authority and British Rail can enforce rules about public behaviour on their premises. Before the national smoking ban bylaws were used to ban smoking in many public places such as the London Underground.
Orders in council
This type is made by the Queen and the privy council, which is made from MP's and other leading members of the government. Meaning that this effectively allows the government to make laws without having to go through all the stages of parliament.
Parliament is unavailable
Orders in Council can also be used when are not available to pass a law, usually because they are not sitting e.g. during the summer break.
To amend an Act of Parliament
Orders in council can also be used to amend Acts of parliament. For example, an order in council was used to amend the Misuse of Drug Act 1971. The order in council was used to reclassify cannabis from a class B to a class C drug in 2004. It was then reclassified back to a class B using order in council.
Emergencies
when laws need to be passed quickly and have tended to happen in the past with major strikes, so that soldiers can provide services during the strike action, like:
Petrol Strikes in 2000
- a protest about fuel prices, which caused people to panic buy fuel and dry stations.
or
Foot and Mouth crisis 2001
to stop the movement and slaughter of all cattle.
These powers to make Orders in Council in times of emergency can be found the
Emergency Powers Act 1920
and the
Civil Contingencies Act 2004
.
What is Delegated Legislation?
Delegated legislation is a law that is made by some person or body other than parliament but with the authority of parliament.
This is done through the Enabling Act and is sometimes known as the Parent Act. It sets out boundaries for what someone can do and if they are broken then it will become void.