Posted by Chester Morton / Tuesday 22 November 2016 / No comments
The control of Delegated Legislation
Definition of Delegated Legislation
Delegated Legislation simply refers to rules, laws, and
orders issues by bodies other than the Legislature of a state. Law making is
the main duty of a Legislature, however, there are times when because of time,
expertise or for any other reason, the Legislature defers its power to make
laws to other bodies. The laws that are made by these other bodies are referred
to as Delegated Legislation.
CONTROLS
Question Time in Parliament
When a Minster is hauled before
parliament, Members of Parliament are given the opportunity to question him or
her about the goings on in his or her ministry. Under such circumstance, the
Minister could be criticized for his actions if it violates the Parent Act.
The Press
The media, including the radio,
newspapers and television, is a medium that is used to keep the appointees in
check. No Minister would want to be put on the line for discussion and put in a
bad light. The press therefore ensures that they delegated legislation do not
infringe on the rights of the citizenry.
Protests and demonstrations
Another way of controlling delegated
legislation is to use protests and demonstrations. In this case no government
official wants to be in the news for the ‘wrong’ reasons. The group that uses
this method mostly is pressure groups.
Use of the Judicial
Another control of delegated
legislation is the judiciary. A citizen, whose rights have been violated, can
resort to the courts for redress. Where the courts find out that the official
acted beyond the powers granted it by the enabling act, it can declare the
action null and void.
The office of the Ombudsman
For countries that have an Ombudsman
or any with similar functions, any citizen whose rights have been violated or
who has received a raw deal from any government official, can seek redress from
the Ombudsman and if is found out that he or she has a case, a remedy would be
found.
Legislative control
There is a Select committee in
parliament which is tasked with the function of scrutinizing statutory
instruments that are brought before parliament. When it detects any ambiguity
in the instrument, it can refer it to Parliament for it to be re-looked at.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1. a. What is delegated legislation?
[2 marks]
b. In which six ways can delegated legislation be controlled? [10
marks]
