17 December 2014

Regulations Review Committee: Inquiry into Parliament’s legislative response to future national emergencies

Public submissions are being invited on Regulations Review Committee’s Inquiry into Parliament’s legislative response to future national emergencies. The closing date for submissions is Sunday, 1 March 2015.

The committee wishes to hear from submitters regarding the legislative framework for emergency response and recovery. The Regulations Review Committee is a constitutional, not a policy, committee. The focus of the inquiry and the topic on which submissions are sought is therefore the constitutional and legislative aspects of emergency response. While it is not the role of this review to deal with substantive issues arising from the Canterbury earthquake, the review may be informed by recent experiences, including Canterbury, in considering the use of executive power and delegated legislation.

The purpose of this inquiry is to establish the most appropriate legislative model for enabling and facilitating response to, and recovery from, national emergencies once a state of emergency has been lifted, while maintaining consistency with essential constitutional principles, the rule of law, and good legislative practice.

The committee has adopted the following terms of reference for the inquiry:

1. Consider the overarching principles governing the delegation of Parliament’s law-making powers in the context of recovery from a national emergency.
2. Propose appropriate enhancements to the framework for both primary and delegated legislation to confer the powers necessary for recovery after the lifting of a state of national emergency.
3. Consider and recommend to the House and other appropriate bodies which constitutional and other enactments (or provisions in enactments) should expressly not be modified by delegated legislation, and make recommendations accordingly.
4. Establish guiding principles for the expiry of recovery legislation, and of modifications to enactments under associated delegated legislation.
5. Examine the legitimacy of actions taken under recovery legislation once the authority to act under the legislation has expired.
6. Determine the extent and nature of the parliamentary scrutiny that would be appropriate in passing a recovery bill.
7. Propose appropriate safeguards and checks and balances on the use of powers delegated to the Executive.
8. Consider the role of the House in scrutinising delegated legislation made under a recovery Act.
9. Consider the extent of the role of the Judiciary in examining recovery legislation, and whether any limits on it might be appropriate.
10. Examine alternative models for recovery legislation used in other jurisdictions.
11. Consider lessons learned from the implementation of recovery legislation after the Canterbury earthquakes.

Submissions should be forwarded by the due date, either online using our website (www.parliament.nz) or in writing to the address below. If a submitter wishes to appear before the committee, they need to state this clearly and provide a name, daytime phone number and email address. Submissions generally become public and are published on our website. For further guidance on making a submission, read our publication Making a submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee on our website or contact us at 04 817 9520.

ENDS

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