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In law, a Statutory Instrument is a form of delegated or secondary legislation.
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United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
Statutory Instruments are frequently used in the Republic of Ireland. The term "Statutory Instrument" is given a broad meaning under the Irish Interpretation Act 2005 to include "an order, regulation, rule, bye-law, warrant, licence, certificate, direction, notice, guideline or other like document made, issued, granted or otherwise created by or under an Act [of the Oireachtas]".
Since the Republic joined the European Union, the degree to which very important legal measures are adopted via Statutory Instruments rather than through Acts of the Oireachtas (which require a positive vote of members of the Oireachtas) has increased greatly. In broad terms this is because, on joining the EU, the Republic's constitution was amended to allow certain laws, "necessitated" by the Republic's membership of the EU, to be adopted without a vote of the Oireachtas. It may be, given the sheer quantity of legislation emenating from the European Union and the need for uniformity of EU law throughout the EU that this development was necessary. Nevertheless, it has undoubtedly enhanced the individual power of Government Ministers at the expense of the Oireachtas.
Other countries
Similarly to the United Kingdom, national and state/provincial governments in Australia and Canada also call their delegated legislation Statutory Instruments.
Canada uses statutory instruments for proclamations by the Queen of Canada. For example, the Proclamation of the Queen of Canada on April 17, 1982 brought into force the Constitution Act 1982, the UK parts of which are known as the Canada Act 1982.
External links
- List of Canadian Statutory Instruments
- Republic of Ireland:
- eSIL website (searchable) — complete HTML text from 1922 to Number 350 of 2005
- Irish Legal Information Initiative — 2005 and 2006 — most titles, with complete PDF text for some instruments
- Attorney General of Ireland website — 2007 and 2008 — most titles, with complete PDF text
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 13 June 2008, at 23:13.
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