Delegated legislation or secondary legislation in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

that is not enacted by a legislative assembly such as the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

, but made by a government minister, a delegated person or an authorised body under powers given to them by an Act of Parliament.

Statutory Instruments In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrumen ...

are the most frequently used type of secondary legislation, with approximately 3,500 made each year, although only about 1,000 need to be considered by Parliament. They usually have either rule, order or regulation in their title. Secondary legislation is used for a wide variety of purposes such as fixing the date on which an Act of Parliament will come into force; setting fees for a public service; or establishing the details of an Act of Parliament. Delegated legislation is dependent on its parent act, which prescribes its parameters and procedures. Although a large volume of delegated legislation is written without close parliamentary scrutiny, there are

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrumen ...

s to prevent its misuse.

Background

Delegated legislation is derived from its parent act, which prescribes its parameters and procedures. Delegated legislation saves parliamentary time by considering matters of technical detail. Such details are prepared by those with relevant expert knowledge. Through its inherent flexibility, delegated legislation accommodates changing circumstances such as changing fees for public services, developments in science or minor changes in government policy. Delegated legislation, allows the rapid drafting of emergency powers. In comparison to Acts of Parliament, which may take much time to pass, the flexibility of delegated legislation can be used to solve problems of governance in a timely way. Delegated legislation is officiated by signature of the author or his authorized representative. In the case of the monarch, only her verbal assent is required. A

related to the parent act is required to write delegated legislation. It ensures the legislation is catalogued and published by the

Queen's Printer The King's Printer (known as the Queen's Printer during the reign of a female monarch) is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers o ...

. Exceptions are directions and by-laws where notifications are made to affected entities. Criticism of delegated legislation may arise, firstly because it is subject to a lesser degree of parliamentary scrutiny than Acts of Parliament. Secondly, it may be used to remove from the scrutiny of the parliament matters that are causing difficulty for the government by designating them "matters concerning detail". Thirdly, within the large volume of delegated legislation there may be little public knowledge of changes being made. However, the statutory instruments are in place to prevent misuse.

Types

Delegated legislation can take a variety of forms, each with different uses. The boundaries between the forms are not fixed. The types used will be determined by the wording of the Parent Act. *

Orders in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''King ...

are made by the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

on the advice of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

(the Government). Orders in Council are used in matters of constitutional significance. An example is bringing into force emergency powers to be exercised by Ministers. * Orders of Council are made by the Lords of the Privy Council. They are used for regulation of professional bodies and the higher education sector. * Ministerial orders are made by ministers. *

Orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

exercise executive powers of government ministers. An example is the dissolution of a

public body A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in so ...

. Commencement Orders set the date on which an Act, or part of an Act, comes into force. *

Regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

set out how an Act is to be implemented and are usually made by Ministers. *

Rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule pert ...

set out procedures for operation of a government entity such as the

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

s or the Patent Office. Rules may be made by ministers or, if specified in the parent Act, a senior

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. In

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, rules of court take the form of

Scottish statutory instrument A Scottish statutory instrument ( gd, Ionnsramaid Reachdail na h-Alba; SSI) is subordinate legislation made by the Scottish Ministers or a regulatory authority in exercise of powers delegated by an Act of the Scottish Parliament. SSIs are the ...

s. Those regulating

civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what kin ...

are enacted by the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburg ...

and are called Acts of Sederunt. Those regulating

criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail o ...

are enacted by the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cour ...

Acts of Adjournal An Act of Adjournal is secondary legislation made by the High Court of Justiciary, the Supreme court, supreme Criminal law, criminal court of Scotland, to regulate the proceedings of Scottish courts hearing criminal matters. Now primarily deriv ...

. Acts of Adjournal can modify

primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democ ...

, where it relates to criminal judicial procedure. * Schemes are made by commissions to proscribe how entities under their remit are governed. An example is the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

which supervises

Charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ...

s. * Directions are a means by which ministers give legally binding instructions to a public body about the way it exercises its functions. * By-laws are laws of limited application (usually restricted to certain places) made by

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

or certain other bodies (for example,

train operating companies A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways Act 1993. T ...

or the

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

) to control the activities of the people in public spaces.

Layout of official documents

A document which records delegated legislation will begin with a

preamble A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subj ...

. It describes the author of the legislation, the related parent Act and its preconditions and any stakeholders. The terms used in the document are determined by the type of delegated legislation it records. For instance, in orders, clauses are called "articles". Clauses may be grouped under headings and in complex delegated legislation, the document may be divided into parts. The main text is followed by any schedules and explanatory notes.

Controls

Delegated legislation is controlled by parliament and the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. Parliamentary controls include "affirmative resolution procedures" where the legislation requires approval in both houses of parliament and "negative resolution procedures" where the legislation may be

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

ed by either house. By convention, the House of Lords will not veto but rather pass a motion to convey its concerns about the legislation. Judicial control of delegated legislation is exercised through

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...

. Delegated legislation can be quashed by a

if it is found to be ''

ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act which requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...

'' (outside the parameters defined in the parent Act). There are two types of ultra vires. In "substantive ultra vires", delegated legislation is deemed void because it goes beyond the powers defined in the parent Act. In "procedural ultra vires", delegated legislation is deemed void because of some procedural deficiency. A court may also quash delegated legislation on the basis of unreasonableness.

References

{{UK legislation Laws in the United Kingdom United Kingdom administrative law

Background

Types

Layout of official documents

Controls

See also

References