Delegated Legislation

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Delegated Legislation

Advantages

  • Saves Parliamentary time- quicker to pass and amend than an Act of Parliament, which must be debated and passed by both Houses.
  • Policy over detail- better for Parliament to focus on wider issues of policy rather than detail.
  • Speed- allows for a quick response in an emergency as Parliament might not be sitting at weekends or during Parliamentary holidays.
  • Use of expertise/ local knowledge- better to initially involve and use technical expertise, or local knowledge, when making detailed laws for specific industries or local areas.
  • Flexibility- can be easily amended or revoked without having to go back to Parliament.
  • Controls (over parliament and courts)- help to avoid any abuse of power by ministers or others exercising delegated law-making powers.

Disadvantages

  • Limited/ Lack of scrutiny
  • Sub-delegation- means that law-making authority is handed down another level.
  • Volume- gives rise to criticism since it makes it difficult to discover what the present law is.
  • Complexity
  • Undemocratic- takes law-making away from the democratically elected House of Commons and allows non-elected people to make law.
  • Lack of Publicity, accessibility

Evaluation

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