Statutory Instruments are usually put into drafts by the legal department of the ministry concerned. During the drafting process, if parties are interested then consultations can go ahead. Roughly 3’000 Statutory Instruments are issued each year. The first SI ever to be passed was The Parish and Community Meetings (Polls) Rules 1987 where amendments were made to what laws had been made in 1983. This was passed a month after it was laid before Parliament.
Orders in Council are issued by the Privy Council and often relate to the regulation of professional bodies, or the transfer of responsibilities between government departments. Usually, alterations to legislation are made by using statutory instruments, which are made under the authority of a parent Act of Parliament, but in cases where this is inappropriate Orders in Council are used. Orders in Council are generally only used in emergencies.
The Council may apply to the Secretary of State for permission to operate bye laws covering particular activities. These are effectively local laws to deal with local issues. Failure to comply with a bye law is a criminal offence, and a person contravening a bye law is usually fined. An example of a bye law would be the amendments made to the Transport Act 1962.
Examples of delegated legislation include the Education Acts 1944 and onwards, giving the Secretary of State the power to make orders under these acts.
The Police Act 1964 gives the Home Secretary the power to make orders and regulations relating to the conditions of service of the police.
The Road Traffic Act 1983 enables the Minister for Transport to make regulations regarding matters concerning road traffic. This is done by using Statutory Instruments.
The House of Lords has established procedures whereby all bills with delegating powers are examined before they begin their passage through the house. The Delegated Powers Scrutiny Committee (established in 1992) keeps under constant review the extent to which legislative powers are delegated by parliament to government ministers. There is an informal understanding in the Lords that, when the Committee has approved provisions in a bill for delegated powers, the form of those powers should not normally be the subject of debate during the bill's subsequent passage. The House of Commons has no equivalent committee.
Discuss the disadvantages of Parliament delegating its law making powers to others.
Despite delegated legislation being useful as it saves time for Parliament it also has many disadvantages.
Delegated legislation has implications that Parliament has insufficient time to scrutinise its Bill’s, suggesting that certain laws that are passed may not be, by any means full proof. In addition, this suggests Parliament is not reviewing legislation, as it should be.
Another disadvantage would be that when laws are delegated, there is a strong lack of publicity, as the majority of the public, and in some cases, even lawyers, do not know about these laws.
The sub-delegation of powers is another problem because it has the ability to cause complexity and confusion, which could prove to be extremely damaging if a mistake was to be made. This does not apply for EU statutory instruments.
Parliament itself has a huge amount of laws to be passed, and this can lead to confusion and complexity within Parliament. Parliament passes most of its laws down for delegated legislation, and so the sheer volume of information and new ideas passed down are impossible for anyone to keep abreast of in such a short space of time.
The final problem is that it is undemocratic. This is because a civil servant makes most of the regulations or other unelected people, except for local authority bye laws made by elected councillors.
Henry VII clauses can give power to delegated legislation or amend or repeal Acts of Parliament
