Important new report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
Sounds boring right? But hundreds of statutory instruments have been used to make Covid criminal laws for the past year and a half, controlling the minutiae of our lives
committees.parliament.uk/publications/6…
This is a good report - a bit of "we have tried to work with the government, we have been polite and respectful" etc at the beginning but then goes on to make some serious criticisms of unclear and irrational criminal laws, failure to provide enough notice, guidance vs law etc
I'm not going to summarise as I don't have time but I will post some screenshots of important bits in my opinion
This is really important on the distinction between guidance and law and the regular confusion caused by the govt's approach - including attempting to make law through guidance
Nice table at the end too
Timing - regulations often published the moment they come into force or just before, no respect for the convention of publishing 21 days before coming into force
Committee says they should have been published in draft.
This is what I was saying the other day () about the current exception for certain sectors to comply with self-isolation law. I think it is exactly this - trying to use guidance to supplement law, which is contrary to the rule of law
Here is the bit about the Committee being polite (at first) and now just letting rip as things aren't getting better.
My view, for what it's worth, is there is an air of unreality about proposing the govt should e.g. publish draft regulations in advance. They aren't going to...
... do that because they have been using emergency powers under Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 as a means of *avoiding* scrutiny.
The only things which will stop them are (a) parliament refusing to vote in laws made like this, (b) successful court challenge
And the evidence of that is that many (but not all) of these points have been made repeatedly by e.g. the @HumanRightsCtte over the past year and a bit but the govt has continued to do exactly the same. Nothing has changed.
Oh and I wish the Committee had said which parts of the Covid regulations it considered were unlawfully sub-delegated...
Should have added another way for this to stop (the most unlikely) is (c) amendment to the 1984 Act to prevent the govt using it in this way
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