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{
    "id": 1176712,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1176712/?format=api",
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    "content": "Hon. Members, there are specialised categories of Statutory Instruments that are used for particular purposes that are or can be considered under the super affirmative procedure. These Statutory Instruments usually amend or repeal Acts of Parliament. Under the super affirmative procedure, a minister presents a proposal for a Statutory Instrument and an explanatory statement. Committees in the House of Commons and in the House of Lords consider the proposal and can make recommendations. Then the minister can formally present or lay a draft of the Statutory Instrument under the affirmative procedure. When Statutory Instruments are formally presented to Parliament, they are said to be laid and when a minister has signed them into law, they are said to be made. Most statutory instruments are presented to the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Some mainly involved in finance are only presented to the House of Commons. Statutory Instruments cannot be amended. Each House can simply approve or reject the instrument. Worth noting too is that the UK has a Statutory Instrument Service that enables the public and all concerned to follow the progress of all Statutory Instruments formally presented to Parliament and to see what stages are coming up next. It provides the deadlines for annulling a negative instrument and also shows a link to all debates. Committee reports and decisions in both Houses are linked to the text of the Statutory Instrument and information on whether the Statutory Instrument will be debated in the committee of delegated legislation or in the chamber. Hon. Members, while we borrowed a lot from the UK law, practice and procedure, our constitutional architecture is different. Our law practice and procedures have been evolving. Indeed, our Committee on Delegated Legislation is a creation of both the Statutory Instruments Act 2013 and Standing Order 210. As a Committee of the House, it is imbued with full powers and privileges outlined under Standing Order 191 (1), which provides as follows: “191 (1) Committees shall enjoy and exercise all the powers and privileges bestowed on Parliament by the Constitution and statute including the powers to – (a) summon any person to appear before it for the purpose of giving evidence or providing information; (b) enforce the attendance of witnesses and examine them under oath, affirmation or otherwise; (c) compel the production of documents; (d) request for and receive papers and documents from the government and the public; and, (e) issue a commission or request to examine witnesses abroad.” Hon. Members, the foregoing powers allow the Committee to call for scrutiny of any instruments said to be made in exercise of powers delegated under an Act of Parliament. Additionally, the Committee is at liberty, pursuant to its oversight mandate, to notify the Executive and all regulation making bodies to ensure that any instruments said to be made in exercise of authority delegated under an Act of Parliament is tabled before Parliament strictly within the prescribed timelines. In the unlikely events that the regulation making bodies persist in their failure to table instruments that ought to be tabled in Parliament, the Committee is at liberty to report that fact to the House. In order to insulate the public from blind obedience of instruments that are seemingly immunised from parliamentary scrutiny, the House may resolve to direct the publication of a notice highlighting the non-compliant statutory instruments and their fate in light of Section 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act 2013."
}