INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES

ASSIGNMENT -1

-JASKARAN SINGH
BA LLB

SEM 8

INTERPRETATION OF DELEGATED LEGISLATION

‘Delegation’ has been characterized by Black’s Law Dictionary as a
demonstration of entrusting an individual with the force or enabling him to
follow up for that individual who has given him that force or to go about as his
representative or agent. Delegated legislation signifies practicing of
authoritative force by a specialist who is lower in rank to the Legislature, or
who is subordinate to the Legislature. Designated enactment, furthermore
implied as a helper enactment, is an order made by an individual or body other
than Parliament. Parliament, through an Act of Parliament, can permit another
person or someone else to make an institution. An Act of Parliament makes the
arrangement of a particular or specific law and will, in general, contain a layout
of the reason for the Act. By appointing the enactment by Parliament to the
Executive or any subordinate, it enables various individuals or bodies to
incorporate more subtleties to an Act of Parliament. Parliament thusly, through
a fundamental institution (for instance an Act of Parliament), licenses others to
make laws and rules through appointed enactment. The order made by
approving individuals should be made according to the explanation put down in
the Act of Parliament.
DELEGATED LEGISLATION (at times allude as optional/secondary
legislation or subordinate legislation or subsidiary legislation) is a cycle by
which the chief authority is given forces by essential enactment to make laws to
execute and control the prerequisites of that essential enactment. Such law is the
law made by an individual or body other than the council however with the
governing body’s position.
Enactment by any legal power or nearby or other body other than the
Legislature yet under the authority of the able governing body is called
Delegated legislation. It is an enactment made by an individual or body other
than Parliament. Parliament subsequently, through essential enactment,
empowers others to make laws and rules through a course of assigned
legislation.

Why is it important?
There are a few reasons why “delegated legislation” is significant:

1. First, it abstains from over-burdening the restricted Parliamentary plan

as designated enactment can be revised as well as made without
passing an Act through the Parliament, which can be tedious. Changes
can in this way be made to the law without the need to have another
Act of Parliament and it further stays away from Parliament investing
a great deal of their energy in specialized issues, for example, the
clarification of a particular piece of the enactment.
2. Furthermore, designated enactment permits law to be made by the
individuals who have the related expert knowledge. By the method of
representation, a local authority can make law as per what their
territory needs rather than having one law in all cases which may not
suit their specific region. A specific local authority can make a law to
suit local needs and that local authority will have the knowledge on
what is best for the area as opposed to Parliament.
3. Thirdly, delegated legislation can manage an “emergency situation” as
it emerges without waiting for an Act to be passed through Parliament
to solve the specific circumstance.
4. Fourthly, delegated legislation can be utilized to cover a circumstance
that Parliament had not foreseen at the time it sanctioned the piece of
enactment, which makes it adaptable and extremely valuable to law
production. Delegated legislation is in this way ready to meet the
changing needs of society and furthermore circumstances which
Parliament had not foreseen when they sanctioned the Act of
Parliament.
5. Seeing the enthusiasm of the affected individual – To make enactment
viable it is imperative to know the need and interest of that individual
who will be influenced by that law or enactment. Just sitting in
enormous houses and settling on a choice for the influenced individual
is simple, however, knowing their inclinations and their needs by
living with them in a similar condition in which they are living is
tough and afterwards making law for them will most likely benefit that
influenced individual. Along these lines, it is important to delegate the
rights of legislation by the Parliament to the Executive. The Executive
 knows the state of the influenced individual superior to the
Legislature.
6. Experimental basis – It can be utilized as an experimental basis. It
permits speedy lawmaking. In the event that a law is made for certain
conditions and it doesn’t satisfy the condition for which it has been
made then it very well may be changed and another law can be made
at the spot of the more established one. Also, in the event that this law
gets fitted as per the circumstance, at that point this law will win
around there. Thus, it is a preferred position in the perspective of the
modern public.

Drawbacks of delegated legislation

Delegated legislation, apart from having numerous plus points, is censured on
numerous grounds:

1. It is contended that delegated legislation empowers specialists other

than legislators to make and change laws along these lines bringing
about the overlapping of functions.
2. It is against the spirit of majority rule government as an excess of
designated enactment is made by unelected individuals.
3. Delegated legislation is subject to less Parliamentary examination than
primary enactment. Parliament, hence, has an absence of authority
over delegated enactment, and this can prompt irregularities in law.
Delegated legislation, along these lines, can possibly be utilized in
manners which Parliament had not foreseen when it gave the force
through the Act of Parliament.
4. Delegated legislation, for the most part, experiences an absence of
publicity. Since the law is made by a legal authority not told to people
in general. On the other hand, the laws of the Parliament are broadly
publicised. The purpose of the absence of publicity is the huge extent
of legislation that is being delegated. There has likewise been concern
communicated that an excess of law is made through delegated
legislation.

Rules for interpreting the delegated legislation

For simplicity of reference, the accompanying steps are drawn from
the Queensland legislation. The Commonwealth approach is to a great extent,
however not exactly, the equivalent:
 1. One of the initial steps will be to learn whether the document being
referred to is without a doubt a piece of delegated legislation. Both
Commonwealth and Queensland enactment addresses that question.
2. Another significant thought when interpreting delegated legislation is
whether it is as a matter of fact substantial or valid, including whether
it is inside the extent of the power under which it was made and
whether it is steady with the empowering Act.
3. The core value is that delegated legislation is to be interpreted as
working “to the full extent of, however not to surpass, the power
presented by the law under which it is made”. That is if any piece of
the assigned enactment surpasses the power allowed by the
empowering Act, at that point, it is to be perused down so as not to
surpass that power.

Conclusion
At long last, we can infer that the delegated legislation is significant in the wake
of the ascent in the number of enactments and technicalities included. And yet
with the ascent in designated enactment, the need to control it additionally
emerges on the grounds that with the expansion in the delegation of power
likewise builds the opportunity of the misuse of the power. Judicial control
separated from legislative and procedural control is the way how the delegation
of power can be controlled. Along these lines, the assigned enactment can be
addressed on the grounds of meaningful ultra vires and on the ground of the
constitutionality of the parent demonstration and the designated enactment. The
last one can also be tested on the ground of its being absurd and arbitrary.

In the event that in India the control of Parliament over the delegated enactment
made a living continuity, at that point it is significant that the activity of the
advisory groups of the Parliament must be braced and an alternate law like
the Statutory Instruments Act, obliging uniform norms of laying and creation,
must be passed. The leading body of trustees may be upgraded by a particular
authority body to make the watchfulness of appointed authorization
continuously effective. Other than the various measures referenced above, it
ought to be taken to strengthen the control of Parliament over assigned
sanctioning.

Effectiveness of Parliamentary Control over Delegated Legislation

In India the legislative control over administration in parliamentary countries
like India is more theoretical than practical. In reality, the control is not that
effective as it ought to be. The following factors are responsible for the
ineffectiveness of parliamentary control over delegated legislation in India:
(i) The Parliament has neither time nor expertise to control the administration
which has grown in volume as well as complexity.
(ii) The legislative leadership lies with the executive and it plays a significant
role in formulating policies.
(iii) The very size of the Parliament is too large and unmanageable to be
effective.
(iv) The majority support enjoyed by the executive in the Parliament reduces the
possibility of effective criticism.
(v) The growth of delegated legislation reduced the role of Parliament in
making detailed laws and increased the powers of bureaucracy.
(vi) Parliament’s control is sporadic, general and mostly political in nature.
(vii) Lack of strong and steady opposition in the Parliament has also contributed
to the ineffectiveness of legislative control over administration in India.
(viii) There is no automatic machinery for the effective scrutiny on behalf of the
Parliament as a whole; and the quantity and complexity are such that it is no
longer possible to rely on such scrutiny.

Interpretation Of Penal Statutes

Salmond defines “interpretation” as “a process by which the Court seeks the
meaning of Legislature through the medium of authoritative forms in which it
expresses”. The manner, in which the courts have been interpreting penal
statutes, has been changing over time. There was a point where it was believed
that a penal statute had to be construed strictly in favour of the accused. With
the flux of time tow, contradictory developments have influenced the
interpretation of penal statutes. In the words of Crawford connotes: “If a statute
is to be strictly construed, nothing should be included within its scope that does
not come clearly within the meaning of the language used.
Its language must be given exact and technical meaning with no extension on
account of implications or equitable considerations; or has been aptly asserted,
its operation must be confined to cases coming clearly within the letter of the
statute as well as within its spirit and reason. Or stated perhaps more concisely,
it is close and conservative adherence to the literal or textual interpretation”.
According to Maxwell the rule of a strict interpretation of penal statutes
manifests itself in four ways— (1) Express language is necessary for the
creation of criminal offences; therefore, no action is to be deemed criminal
unless it is clearly made so by words of the statute concerned. But it is not
necessary that a particular penalty is specified in order that an act or omission
may constitute an offence.
(2) The words setting out the elements of an offence are to be strictly construed.
And if there is any reasonable doubt or ambiguity it will be resolved in favour
of the person charged. A reasonable interpretation which will avoid the penalty
must be adopted. If there are two reasonable constructions the court must give
the more lenient one. The court must always see that the person to be penalized
comes fairly and squarely within the plain words of the enactment.
(3) Punishments can be imposed only if the circumstances of the case fall
clearly within the words of the enactment.
(4) Similarly, statutes dealing with jurisdiction and procedure are, if they relate
to the infliction of penalties, strictly construed.
In the case of State of West Bengal v. S.K. Guha AIR 1982 SC 949. It is
recognized rule of construction of the penal statutes that where the equivocal
word or ambiguous sentence leaves a reasonable doubt of its meaning which the
canons of interpretation fail to solve, the benefit of doubt should be given to the
subject and against the legislature which has failed to explain itself.
In Suman Sethi v. Ajay K. Churiwal AIR 2000 SC 828. While referring to the
Prevention of Corruption Act 1947, the court laid down that the Act was brought
in to purify public administration. When the legislature used comprehensive
terminology to achieve the said purpose, it would be appropriate not to limit the
content by construction when particularly the spirit of the statute is in accord
with the words used therein. In Iqbal Singh Marwah v. Meenakshi Marwah AIR
2005 SC 2119, the SC said that the rule of strict construction is not of universal
applicability. Penal statutes should be construed in a manner as shall suppress
the mischief and advance the remedy.