Regulation

A regulation is a legal restriction promulgated by government administrative agencies through rulemaking. This administrative law or regulatory law is in contrast to statutory or case law.

Regulation as a legal term

A regulation (as a legal term) is a rule created by an Administration or administrative agency or body that interprets the statute(s) setting out the agency's purpose and powers, or the circumstances of applying the statute.

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A regulation is a form of secondary legislation which is used to implement a primary piece of legislation appropriately, or to take account of particular circumstances or factors emerging during the gradual implementation of, or during the period of, a primary piece of legislation.

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Other forms of secondary legislation are statutory instruments, statutory orders, by-laws and rules. Some of these (but not all of them) need to be referred back before being implemented, to the primary legislative process.

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United Kingdom

An example in Britain is that there is primary, Central Government legislation covering the operations of Local Authorities. These functions include Education, Social Services, Leisure provision, etc..

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In that primary legislation there are provisions to allow Local Authorities to legislate for themselves, within reason and under proper process, on a range of matters in their areas of responsibility. This allows the law to be effectively applied with appropriate flexibility and taking account of local factors. These are often best known by the Local Authority concerned.

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Regulations also assist the primary legislative process, the national parliament, to avoid the potential bottleneck of the detailed implementatin of all the laws it produces in all the varying cirumstances throughout the land or throughout the process of their implementation.

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France

In French law, the difference between statute law (adopted by the legislative branch) and regulation is of paramount importance when it comes to adoption, amendment or judicial review. The French constitution reserves a number of topics for statute law; in normal times, the executive branch may take decisions on such matters only if it has been specifically authorized by a statute to do so as secondary legislation through decrees, or if it has been specifically and rarely authorized by the legislative branch to do so as primary legislation through ordinances. On all other matters, the executive branch is solely responsible for issuing primary legislation through decrees. Secondary or tertiary legislation may come in the form of arrêtés.

Related Topics:
French - Statute law - Legislative branch - French constitution - Executive branch - Statute - Secondary legislation - Decree - Primary legislation - Ordinance

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All legislation and regulation issued by the executive, including ordinances not ratified by the legislative branch, is subject to judicial review by the administrative courts (see Conseil d'État).

Related Topics:
Legislative branch - Administrative court - Conseil d'État

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European Union

EU regulation has a general scope, and is obligatory in all its elements and directly applicable in all Member States of the European Union. Any local laws contrary to the regulation are overruled, as EU Law has supremacy over the laws of the Member States. New legislation enacted by Member states must be consistent with the requirements of EU regulations. For these reasons regulations constitute the most powerful or influential of the EU legislative acts.

Related Topics:
EU regulation - Member States - EU legislative acts

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Other forms of legislative acts of the European Union (EU) are directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.

Related Topics:
European Union - Directives - Decisions - Recommendation - Opinion

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