- Statutory Instrument
In
law , a Statutory Instrument is a form of delegated orsecondary legislation .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 theOireachtas (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 theOireachtas . 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 andCanada also call their delegated legislation Statutory Instruments. Canada uses statutory instruments forproclamations by the Queen of Canada. For example, the Proclamation of the Queen of Canada onApril 17 ,1982 brought into force theConstitution Act 1982 , the UK parts of which are known as theCanada Act 1982 .External links
* [http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/index/index.html List of Canadian Statutory Instruments]
* Republic of Ireland:
** [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/statutory.html eSIL website (searchable)] — complete HTML text from 1922 to Number 350 of 2005
** Irish Legal Information Initiative — [http://www.ucc.ie/law/irlii/legislation/sidisp.php?yr=2005 2005] and [http://www.ucc.ie/law/irlii/legislation/sidisp.php?yr=2006 2006] — most titles, with completePDF text for some instruments
**Attorney General of Ireland website — [http://www.attorneygeneral.ie/esi/2007/esi_num.html 2007] and [http://www.attorneygeneral.ie/esi/2008/esi_num.html 2008] — most titles, with complete PDF text
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