Subordinate legislation

It is preferable to designate one ministry together with subordinate institutions as being responsible for legislation regulating the marketing of chemicals, including overall responsibility for national co-ordination and international contacts (Fig. 16.5). 

Acts of Parliament are known as statutes and are a means by which Parliament makes new law or changes existing law. Regulations support the Act under which they are made and define conditions and mechanisms through which the Act is put into place. Various departments are defined under the Constitution, cis are the laws of Parliament that each department is entrusted to administer. Due to the size and complexity of the legislation administered by each department, for ease of administration Parliament has included provisions in most Acts and Regulations to delegate discretionary and other powers that normally vest in the Minister or perhaps the Secretary of the Department, to more subordinate officers. 

All government publications, including the Medicines Act and its subordinate legislation, are obtainable from Stationery Office bookshops. UK statutory instruments may also be found on the HMSO website at http //hmso.gov.uk/stat.htm... 

In the United States, in the early nineteenth century, corporations were chartered only for narrow purposes, such as construction of a canal or a toll road, and for a finite period of time (typically 20 years). Investors were held personally liable for corporate actions, and the corporation s total capitalization might be limited by legislative fiat. It is evident from the historical record that up until the Civil War, and even beyond, legislatures were reluctant to give broad authority to corporations. Many legislatures explicitly acknowledged that corporations are subordinate entities that exist only to serve public purposes and can be dissolved if they fail in that duty. 

A specified party must hold or obtain (and maintain) all necessary authorisations, for example, under the Medicines Act 1968 and subordinate/related legislation, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. 

In Denmark, the special action plans have been drafted for limiting the consumption of a dangerous substance, e.g., for PVC, phthalates and j icultural pesticides. Danish regulation of chemical use is tightly bound to international j reements and, not only, to EU legislation. The overall responsibility in this field is kept by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Danish EPA), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Environment and Energy. 

If regulatory concerns are subordinated to commercial concerns by industry, then a restrictive legislative/public backlash will probably occur, particularly if there are perceived health or environmental risks. Conversely, if there are restrictive regulatory burdens, then the agricultural biotechnology industry will not grow and may move to less restrictive countries. In this situation both the U.S. economy and the public will suffer. Obviously, there must be a balancing of interests and needs. 

The process for making laws in the UK varies slightly between the statutes and the subordinate legislation, i.e. Regulations and Orders. All are in written form and copies may be obtained from TSO. 

Secondary legislation (sometimes referred to as subordinate legislation)... 

Prior to 1974 the main health and safety Acts were the Factories Act 1961 and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963. Both these Acts applied only in the premises defined in them. Similarly, any subordinate legislation made under either of them applied only in the premises covered by the main Act. However, legislation made since the coming into effect of the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 now covers all employment except domestic service. 

Chapter 1 Explaining the law (B. Watts) 3 Chapter 2 Principal Health and Safety Acts (S. Simpson) 32 Chapter 3 Subordinate safety legislation (S. Simpson) 55 Chapter 4 Lawof contract (R. W. Hodgin) 80 Chapter 5 Industrial relations law (J. R. Ridley) 90 Chapter 6 Consumer protection (R. G. Lawson) 101 Chapter 7 Insurance cover and compensation (A. West) 112 Chapter 8 Civil liability (E. J. Skellett) 126... 

UK health and safety legislation consists of a number of main or principal Statutes or Acts which are supported by a great deal of subordinate legislation in the form of Regulations and Orders. This chapter deals with the more commonly applied main Acts that are concerned with protecting the health and safety of the working population and those who may be put at risk from the manner in which the work is carried out. 

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