They are also used to allow experts to make laws. An example is that Section 17 of the Road Traffic Act (1998) said that the secretary of state may make regulations regarding headwear for motorcyclists. It gave the Minister of Transport power to decide the types of helmets; he was only able to do this after consulting manufacturing experts and road safety experts. The minister of Transport then introduced compulsory helmets for all motorcyclists.
Bylaws are another type of delegated legislation. Here authority is given to local authorities or to public bodies to be able to make laws for their area of geographical location.
An example of a bylaw would be the Dog Fouling Act (1996). This gave authority to local councils to introduce bylaws that punish dog owners for allowing their dogs to foul public places. They can be fined up to £1,000.
Another example is Manchester City Council; they passed a bylaw stating that no person shall on any footway use any skateboards, wheels or other equipment that will cause danger, cause nuisance and annoyance to other people using the footway. It was granted this to do under the Local Government Acts of 1972 and 1982.
Discuss the disadvantages of delegated legislation as a form of law making
The first disadvantage as a form of law making is that it is argued that delegated legislation in undemocratic. This is because as laws are being made by government ministers and others. Most of who have not been elected. However the Parent Act was made by Parliament. It can be said that many bylaws are made by local authorities or public bodies who have not been elected.
Another disadvantage as a form of law making is that the large volume of delegated legislation. As there are about 3,000 statutory instruments passed year. It is even harder by the lack of publicity it attracts. Therefore it makes it hard for anyone to know the exact laws of where they live.
Another disadvantage is that there is limited control over delegated legislation. This is due to amount of statutory instruments being passed each year. The scrutiny committee cannot check every instrument and even when it finds something wrong it does not have the power to check it but only the power to inform Parliament. The courts also have restricted power as they cannot declare delegated legislation unlawful unless someone brings the issue to court.
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schoudhry28 (student)
