Lord Thankerton said: ‘In this case, as in similar cases that have come before the Courts, Parliament has delegated its legislative function to a Minister of the Crown, but in this case Parliament has retained no specific control over the exercise of the function by the Minister, such as a condition that the order should be laid before Parliament and might be annulled by a resolution of either House within a limited period. In my opinion the true principle of construction of such delegation by Parliament of its legislative function is that it only confers a limited power on the Minister, and that, unless Parliament expressly excludes the jurisdiction of the Court, the Court has the right and duty to decide whether the Minister has acted within the limits of his delegated power.’
and: ‘Where, however, the power delegated to the Minister is a discretionary power, the exercise of that power within the limits of the discretion will not be open to challenge in a Court of law.’
Judges:
Lord Thankerton
Citations:
[1931] AC 494
Cited by:
Cited – McEldowney v Forde HL 18-Jun-1969
The House was asked whether the Magistrates had properly dismissed a charge of membership of an unlawful organisation, namely a Republican club. The Magistrates had found that an unlawful club would only be such if it supported the absorption of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional
Updated: 11 May 2022; Ref: scu.546905