of this Act, should it become law in its present form, a frequent occurrence. Such
measures cannot impose or increase taxation. There are also restrictions on the
creation of new offences, although new indictable offences with imprisonment for
a term not exceeding two years can be created by the new procedure. There are
also restrictions on creating new rights of forcible entry, search or seizure. A
Minister must be satisfied that legislation is required to secure a policy objective.
The proposed order must be proportionate and strike a fair balance between the
public interest and the interests of any persons adversely affected. It does not
prevent anyone from exercising rights and freedoms they might reasonably
expect to continue to exercise.
68
There are three ways by which resolutions made under this proposed legislation
can be approved by Parliament. The first is a negative resolution, in which case a
draft order is laid on the tables of both Houses of Parliament, and the order can be
made, unless within a 40 day period either House of Parliament resolves that the
order may not be made.
69
The second method is an affirmative resolution procedure which requires the
approval of the House in order for the draft order to come into effect. For some
matters, there is also a super affirmative resolution procedure set out in clause 16
of the Bill. Here, the Minister has to have regard to representation
recommendations of a Committee of either House of Parliament. The Minister
then lays before Parliament a statement giving details of the representations
received. This procedure goes on over a period of 60 days.
70
Each draft order must contain a recommendation by the Minister as to which of
the above procedures should be followed in the particular instance.
71
The Bill itself may not be enacted in its present form, since it has been subjected
to criticism in the United Kingdom. This is not the first occasion on which
legislation of this sort has been considered in the United Kingdom. The impetus
for it came from the Regulatory Reform Act 2001. A review of that Acts
operations concluded that there were too many hurdles for its use.
72
It would be deleterious to New Zealands existing constitutional arrangements to
follow a procedure like that contained in the Bill in my view. It should be noted
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