DELEGATED LEGISLATION

DELEGATED LEGISLATION

Delegated legislation is the power of the Parliament to confer the authority to make laws and regulations on some persons or bodies. It can also be defined as rules, laws and regulations made by other bodies other than the legislature but with their approval.

Types of Delegated Legislation

1. Statutory instruments:  these ministerial or departmental orders or rules made or issued by ministers commissioners and senior civil servants under the authority of Acts of Parliament.

2. Provisional orders:  these are temporary general rules or orders made by individuals or body authorised by the minister to make such rules until the Parliament could endorsed or confirmed them.

3. Bylaws:  these are rules and regulations made by local government or such a Statutory body as the Nigerian railway corporation for the smooth running of their operations.  such rules and regulations apply only within the area of authority of the statutory body or local government.

4. Order in Council:  this refers to the power delegated to the British Monarch to make a royal proclamation when there is needs to exercise  unusual legislative powers in the country. For instance the monarch can declare war when the Territorial integrity of the State is threatened by external enemies.

5. Special or emergency orders:  this refers to government orders that are limited in scope especially during emergency periods sometimes referred to as classified information.

6. Court decisions: the decisions of a judge that are binding as if they are an act of Parliament also constitute delegated legislation.

7. Warrants:  search warrants by senior police officer to suspected Persons and bench warrants by High Court judges for a person to appear before the court to give evidence is also  part of delegated legislation.

Reasons for delegated legislation

a. Delegated legislation is user to reduce the workload of the legislature.

b. It is also used to facilitate the law making process.

c. It is used in order to avoid rigidity.

d. It is used in emergency because of its flexibility.

e. Delegated legislation is necessary in order to bring government and power nearer to the people.

f. It is also used to make adjustment to meet unforeseen and contingent matters in a country.

g. The technical nature of some legislation makes it possible for the legislature to pass them to expert and others to avoid mistakes.

Advantages of delegated legislation

i. Time-saving:  through delegated legislation, powers are conferred on certain bodies to make certain minor laws while the Parliament concentrates on major ones. This saves the Parliament times and energy.

ii. It gives room for flexibility:  unlike laws made in the parliament that are rigid, delegated legislation tend to be flexible in the sense that it is easy to make amend and repeal.

iii. Suitable for emergency period:  delegated legislation is suitable to meet emergency period s which if the Parliament is to wait to make laws to control such emergency situation things will get out of hand.

iv. It allows for experimentation:  delegated legislation when made newly is experimented in one area and it is proved successful another area may adopt it.

v.  Easy to understand:  delegated legislation are made  based on the  level of understanding of the people of the area the law should be applied.
6 it saves cost:  delegated legislation saves cost in terms of material and human resources and the formalities involved in the passage of bills.

vi. It reduces the workload on the parliament: parliamentary workload are reduced due to delegated legislation

Disadvantages of delegated legislation

i. It reduces the supremacy of the Parliament: delegated legislation act as usurpation of the function of the legislature by the executive thereby reducing the supremacy of the Parliament in law making process.

ii. It  violates the principle of rule of laws: the indiscriminate formulation of laws by a different body, frequent amendment of these laws, secrecy in law making etc. are some of the attributes of delegated legislation that violates the principle of rule of law.

iii.  It is the principle of separation of Powers:  delegated legislation runs contrary to the principle of Separation of powers because it is the same as sharing of legislative function with the executive arm of government.

iv.  It is undemocratic:  delegated legislation is an undemocratic because it encourages those without people's mandate to make laws.

v.  Insufficient consultation:  sufficient consultations are not carried out with those concerns before laws are made.

vi. It is prone to abuse:  the department, organisations,  individuals, etc. that are delegated powers by the Parliament to make laws can easily abuse such privileges.

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