Orders in Council

The Privy council is made up of the Queen, the Prime Minister, and other senior members of government. The Privy council can make Orders in Council which are usually on matters of national importance, these are dealt with under the doctrine of the royal Prerogative. These are most often used when Parliament are not sitting.

Orders in Council can made on a wide range of matters including; making European Directives legal, transferring responsibility between government departments, and bringing Acts of Parliament into force. An example of the Privy council using an order in council to transfer responsibilities between different government departments is when the Ministry of Justice was created, the powers of the previous Department of Constitutional Affairs and some of the powers of the Home Office were transferred to this new ministry.

There must be an Enabling Act that allows the Privy council to make Orders in council on a particular topic.

The Privy Council has the power to make law in emergency situations under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Orders in Council can also be used to make law on other types of law as seen in 2003 when an Order in Council was used to alter the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to make cannabis a class C drug. 5 years later the government changed their minds and used an Order in Council to make it a class B drug.

Statutory Instruments

Statutory Instruments are rules and regulations made by government ministers. There are about 15 different government departments, each one deals with a different area of policy and can make rules and regulations on the matters they deal with. The Minister for Health and Pensions can make rules and regulations on work matters such as health and safety at work.

Statutory Instruments can be very short or very detailed with regulations that where to detailed to include in an Act of Parliament. For example: the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2009 was made by the Minister for Work and Pensions under the European Communities Act 1972 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1984.

The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 gives ministers the power to make any provision by order if it will remove or reduce a burden resulting from legislation. A burden can be; a financial cost, an administrative inconvenience, an obstacle to efficiency or profitability, and a sanction which affects the carrying on of any lawful activity. This means that ministers can change Acts of Parliament even though the original Act did not enable them to however it was agreed upon that this was not to be used for controversial measures. Strict controls are in place for this type of legislation.

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