Canada – By section 2(l)(c) of the National Emergency Transitional Powers Act 1945 the governor in Council was authorised to do such things and to make such orders and regulations as he might, by reason of the continued emergency arising out of the war against Germany and Japan, deem necessary or advisable for the purpose of, inter alia, ‘Maintaining, controlling and regulating supplies and services, prices, transportation, use and occupation of property, rentals, employment, salaries and wages to ensure economic stability and an orderly transition to conditions of peace’. Under the powers conferred by that Act the Governor in Council passed an Order in Council which provided that oats and barley in commercial positions in Canada, with certain exceptions, should be vested in the Canadian Wheat Board. The Order was successfully challenged in Manitoba and in the Supreme Court of Canada but was upheld by the Privy Council on the ground that although the Act of 1945 made no specific reference to appropriation yet the wide language of section 2(1) ending with the words ‘as he may . . deem necessary or advisable’ gave the amplest possible discretion in the choice of methods. The expression ‘as he may deem necessary’ or like words are often found in statutes in which a discretionary power is given to a minister or other authority.
Judges:
Viscount Simon, Lord Normand, Lord Radcliffe, Lord Asquith of Bishopstone, Lord Cohen
Citations:
[1952] UKPC 13, [1952] AC 427, [1952] 1 TLR 1408
Links:
Statutes:
National Emergency Transitional Powers Act 1945
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.
Commonwealth, Constitutional
Updated: 22 September 2022; Ref: scu.445957