Types of Delegated Legislation

Statutory Instruments:
Statutory instruments are rules, regulations and orders, issued by ministers and national in effect.
They can be introduced by one of two ways:

• Negative resolution - The most common procedure. There is no debate on the issue and the SI will become law unless it is rejected by Parliament within 40 days
• Affirmative resolution - Less common than the negative procedure, but offers more control, as the SI is debated and it needs Parliament's approval before being enacted
• The relevant Parent Act will specify whether negative or affirmative resolution is needed to take place before a Statutory Instrument can become law

Statutory instruments can be declared void if they conflict with EU legislation

Orders in Council:

• Introduced by the Queen or the Privy Council in times of emergency under the Emergency Powers Act (1920)
• Only used in times of emergency, when Parliament is not sitting (the Privy Council is a board of Senior Ministers past and present, that meet with the Monarch)

By-laws:

• Introduced by local authorities, or large bodies authorised to do so (such as the Rail Authority, Railtrack)
• Only involve matters of local concern
• Generally passed under the Local Government Act (1972)
• An example could be the ban on smoking on the London underground