(Redirected from Regulations)
:''This article is for the legal term. For regulation of genes, see
regulation of gene expression. For the regulation of sports, see
Regulation of sport. For regulation in electrical systems see
Voltage regulator.''
A 'regulation' is a
legal restriction promulgated by
government administrative agencies through
rulemaking supported by a threat of
sanction or a
fine. This
administrative law or regulatory law is in contrast to
statutory or
case law.
Regulation mandated by the government or
state attempts to produce outcomes which might not otherwise occur, produce or prevent outcomes in different places to what might otherwise occur, or produce or prevent outcomes in different timescales than would otherwise occur. Common examples of regulation include attempts to control market entries,
prices,
wages,
pollution effects,
employment for certain people in certain
industries, standards of production for certain
goods and
services.
The
economics of imposing or removing regulations relating to
markets is analysed in
regulatory economics.
Regulation and Statute
A regulation is adopted by a
public administration regulatory agency, approved by Office of Administrative Law (
OAL), and filed with the
Secretary of State and signed by the President / Governor.
A statute is passed by the
legislature.
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
statutes setting out the agency's purpose and powers, or the circumstances of applying the statute.
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.
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.
Types of regulation
Regulations, like any other form of
coercive action, have costs for some and benefits for others. Efficient regulations may only be said to exist where the total benefits to some people exceed the total costs to others.
Regulations are justified using a variety of reasons and therefore can be classified in several broad categories:
★
Market failures - regulation due to inefficiency. Intervention due to a
classical economics argument to market failure.
★
★ Risk of
monopoly
★
★ Collective action, or
public good
★
★ Inadequate
information
★
★ Unseen
externalities
★ Collective desires - regulation about collective desires or considered judgements on the part of a significant segments of
society
★ Diverse experiences - regulation with a view of
eliminating or
enhancing opportunities for the formation of diverse preferences and beliefs
★ Social subordination - regulation aimed to
increase or
reduce social subordination of various social groups
★
Endogenous preferences - regulation's purpose is to affect the development of certain preferences on an aggregate level
★
Irreversibility - regulation that deals with the problem of irreversibility – the problem in which a certain type of conduct from current generations results in outcomes from which future generations may not recover from at all.
★
Interest group transfers - regulation that results from efforts by
self-interest groups to redistribute wealth in their favor, which may disguise itself as one or more of the justifications above.
International experience
United Kingdom
An example in
Britain is that there is primary,
central government legislation covering the operations of
local government, such as
devolution. These functions include
education,
social services,
leisure or provision.
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.
Regulations also assist the primary legislative process, the
national parliament, to avoid the potential bottleneck of the detailed implementation of all the laws it produces in all the varying circumstances throughout the land or throughout the process of their implementation.
Since 1997, central government has been working to improve regulation by applying new principles of
better regulation.
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''.
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, such as the
Conseil d'État.
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.
Other forms of legislative acts of the
European Union (EU) are
directives,
decisions,
recommendations and
opinions.
See also
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Rulemaking
★
public affairs
★
Delegated legislation
★
Public choice theory
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Regulator
★
Federal Register
★
Code of Federal Regulations
External links
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See Regulation & Governance, A new Blackwell Journal dedicated for the study of Regulation
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Reports of UK practice from the Better Regulation Commission
★
A glimpse into some United Kingdom deregulatory procedures
★
An Introduction to Regulation
★
Regulation updates service on the UK government Business Link website
★ The
ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance maintains a website that is dedicated to the subject
★ The
Mercatus Center at
George Mason University has a
Regulatory Studies Program
★
ReguStand dedicated for helping SMEs manage regulation
Wikibooks
★
★
Lawrence A. Cunningham, A Prescription to Retire the Rhetoric of 'Principles-Based Systems' in Corporate Law, Securities Regulation and Accounting (2007)