On 18 December, the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, Alison McGovern, indicated that the Government had invited local authorities to advise on whether there should be a one-year delay to local elections. This invitation arises amidst … [Read more...] about Delaying Local Government Elections: Electoral Advantage or Genuine Reform?
If you ask any first-year constitutional law student which branch of government makes and amends the laws, they will (probably) dutifully answer – the legislature. Such is the received wisdom, but I would challenge them (and others) to think again … [Read more...] about The Hidden Threat: How Henry VIII Powers Weaken Democracy
I have a special interest in privacy – back in the 1980s my father’s love letters to my mother, penned in Margaret Thatcher’s England, would arrive in Poland with a censorship stamp from the communist government. Now, with Clause 122 of the Online … [Read more...] about Online Safety Act: Privacy Threats and Free Speech Risks
The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) is a unique piece of constitutional law because of the way it interacts with other legislation. It can be used to evaluate whether other legislation is compatible with human rights law. In the first place, courts will … [Read more...] about UK Human Rights Violations and the Role of Parliament
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is a division of government lawyers who specialise in drafting legislation and assist with its passage through the legislative process. The OPC is responsible for drafting all government bills, advising … [Read more...] about The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel: Functions, Comparisons, Criticisms
This blog post provides an update on delegated powers over the parliamentary session 2022-2023. I summarise the concerns of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, which is a House of Lords committee that holds the Government … [Read more...] about Baby Steps? Government Action on Delegated Powers
Introduction In Part 1 of this piece I summarised the role of Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) and some trends that it had flagged during the last parliamentary session. Broadly speaking, these included: (1) a … [Read more...] about Spotlight on the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee – Part 2
In November 2021, two parliamentary committees declared that the use and overbreadth of delegated legislation had shifted power irreparably away from Parliament and that only a total “reset” would suffice. One of them, the Secondary Legislation … [Read more...] about Spotlight on the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee – Part 1
This blog describes how constitutional provisions in five countries limit the use of delegated legislation. Delegated legislation in the UK is usually described as legislation that is created as a result of Parliament giving away rule-making powers … [Read more...] about Constitutional Provisions Limiting Delegated Legislation
In a recent working paper, the Hansard Society has laid out its preliminary proposals for an overhaul of the parliamentary Statutory Instrument (SI) procedure. The proposals would see all SIs laid in draft and sifted by a Parliamentary … [Read more...] about What could proposals to reform SI procedure in Parliament mean for the courts?
On Friday 22 April, The Constitution Society held a conference looking at the power of the UK executive within the political system. Speakers at the conference considered the nature the government’s power and its relationship with the institutions … [Read more...] about Executive power and the constitution: is the UK government getting more powerful?
Although the pandemic has heightened the importance of delegated legislation in everyday policymaking, government reliance on delegated legislation has been on the rise for around a century. In 1921, Cecil Carr described the relationship between … [Read more...] about In the highest degree, delegated and discretionary
