ORDERS-IN-COUNCIL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23808, 8 November 1940, Page 6

ORDERS-IN-COUNCIL

An issue vital to the preservation of that democracy and freedom for which New Zealand is fighting has been raised by the conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce. They urge that the growing habit of the Government of legislating by Order-in-Cduncil be severely curbed and that Parliament, the representative and legislative body, should exercise much closer control over the issue of regulations. The chambers are on sound ground in urging the restriction of action by Orders-in-Council to such cases as can be met only by such emergency procedure. There are many good reasons, especially in wartime, for empowering the Executive to act so far but it has shown aptness for exploiting powers much further. The Farmers' Loans Emergency Regulations provide a case in point. No emergency existed and, in any case, Parliament was in session to pass legislation if thought fit. The Government chose to ignore the people's representatives and make laws by Order-in-Council overriding individual rights. It preferred to introduce conscription by the same dictatorial method—a matter of human life and death that should not have

been determined other than by Parliament. It is true that Parliament had entrusted the Government with the widest emergency powers but surely the intention was not that they should be exploited in such large matters, except the urgency was so immediate and pressing that recourse could not be had to the Legislature. As well as urging the more sparing use of Orders-in-Council, the chambers also suggest that Parliament should exercise a much closer and direct surveillance over those that are issued. Such control is very rarely provided for in the empowering Acts but Parliament, as the representative of the people and the guardian of their liberties, should insist on exercising it in all cases, thus preserving its own legislative prerogatives and the principle of democracy.