The Advantages And Disadvantaged of Delegated Legislation

Delegated Legislation (DL) saves parliament a lot of time. Parliament do not have enough time to worry about all the detailed, new, local laws required for each year. there is usually only enough time in the Parliamentary session for Government bills to be passed. this means there is little time for other types of bills, over 3000 Statutory Instruments (SI) and not to mention the local By- laws and emergency provisions, to be passed.

DL can be passed quickly to deal with problems there and then - and in emergencies. if we were to take the Parliamentary process, it would be far too long and go against the whole point of an emergency.

some DL offends - Doctrine of Separation of powers.

under the Doctrine - 3 branches of power: executive, legislature and judiciary

                            -noone should be member of more than one of the 3.

                            -the 3 branches should opparate seperately.

                            -they shouldn't eachothers duties.

The executive = The Government and therefore the ministers theoreticly shouldnt be making laws.

The Legislature = Houses of Parliament - responsible for law making.

Judiciary = ensure law passed by Parliament is applied. according to theory they should not be declaring whether law is valid or not.

A lot of people involved in DL have great expert knowledge in the particular area. This cannot always be the case in Parliament. An example is that local councils have a greater knowledge on the local areas than the parliament. This is shown by Bristol city Council having local By - Laws relating to Clifton and Durham Downs. They regulate the behavior on the Downs and prohibit vehicles and grazing.

Furthermore Government ministers and the civil service departments have a large technical knowledge within their area. An example is the Cableway Installations Regulations 2004 - made by Transport Minister to comply with a European Directive which requires technical knowledge of cable cars etc.

Lack of Control. Parliament and Judicial controls are limited. an example is not all SI's are affirmed or scrutinised etc and those that are, can be overlooked. Judicial controls depend on the person challenging it in the first place. due to the lack of experties, this normally means they are overlooked. DL that is ultra vires is never challenged so remains in force.

There is some control over Delegated Legislation. For example SI's in parliament are affirmed, resolved with negatively, or scrutinized by the Scrutiny Committee. By - Laws must be approved by the relevant Minister and judges can declare any DL that has gone past its powers remit. This control should make sure all the DL applies with the appropriate Parent act (Enabling act) which therefore abides with parliament.

DL is not publicized a lot as:

- It isn’t debated by Parliament - not the same opportunity of public awareness than act of parliament

- No effective way to publicize DL

Both added up means a lot of DL passed and public unaware. Even after it has come into force.

DL - to an extent is democratic as the government ministers responssible for issuing SI's and making Laws, are elected. Local councillors - responsible for making laws, are also elected. Furthermore Orders in Council are drafted by the government, however it is approved by the queen and privy council which aren't elected.

to an extent Undemocratic. it isnt debated by parliament - with the exception of SI's - as they are affirmed, or scrutinised etc. however even SI's are drafted by civil servants that are perminantly employed and are often only rubber - stamped by the appropriate minister. further the Orders in Council are approved by an unelected body - the Privy Council