Delegation of Powers

Delegation of Powers

What is Delegation of Powers?

Fundamentally, legislative power is an attribute of sovereignty, in that the Constitution itself, the fundamental law of the State, is a legislation of the sovereign people. However, through the Constitution, the people “delegated” the legislative power to the Congress of the Philippines. Section 1, Article VI states that “Legislative power shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines…” The delegation of power entails a surrender of authority to the representatives, or in the case of legislative power, to the Congress. Thus, law-making can only be performed by the Congress, even if the law it enacts involves the people.

What is the Principle of Non-delegation of Powers?

The Congress cannot further delegate the power delegated to it by the people. This is in keeping with the principle of non-delegation of powers which is applicable to all the three branches of the government. The rule states that what has been delegated cannot further be delegated – potestas delegata non delegari potest. A delegated power must be discharged directly by the delegate and not through the delegate’s agent. It is basically an ethical principle which requires direct performance by the delegate of an entrusted power. Further delegation therefore constitutes violation of the trust reposed by the delegator on the delegate. The people, through the Constitution, delegated lawmaking powers to the Congress, and as such, it cannot as a rule delegate further the same to another.

Exceptions to the Principle of Non-delegation of Powers

Permissible Delegation:

(1) Delegation of tariff powers to the President.

Article 6, Section 28(2). “The Congress may by law authorize the President to fix within specified limits, and subject to such limitations and restrictions as it may impose, tariff rates, import and export quotas, tonnage and wharfage dues, and other duties or imposts, within the framework of the national development program of the Government.”

- the reason for this delegation is the necessity, not to say expediency, of giving the chief executive the authority to act immediately on certain matters affecting the national economy lest delay result in hardship to the people.

(2) Delegation of emergency powers to the President.

Article 6, Section 23(2). “In times of war or other national emergency, the Congress may by law authorize the President, for a limited period and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy. Unless sooner withdrawn by resolution of the Congress, such powers shall cease upon its next adjournment.”

The conditions for the vesture of emergency powers in the President are the following:

a. There must be war or other national emergency.

b. The delegation must be for a limited period only.

c. The delegation must be subject to such restrictions as the Congress may prescribe.

d. The emergency powers must be exercised to carry out a national policy declared by the Congress.

Important points:

* the emergency powers are self-liquidating unless sooner withdrawn.

* Conferment of emergency powers on the President is not mandatory on the Congress. The Congress may choose to hold on to its legislative powers and validly refuse to delegate it.

(3) Delegation to the people at large.

- The Congress further delegates its legislative power by allowing direct legislation by the people in cases of initiative and referendum.

(4) Delegation to local governments.

- This delegation is based on the principle that the local government is in better position than the national government to act on purely local concerns. Legislative power is therefore given to them for effective local legislation.

(5) Delegation to administrative bodies.

- The Congress delegates the so called “power of subordinate legislation” to administrative bodies. Due to the growing complexity of modern society, it has become necessary to allow specialized administrative bodies to promulgate supplementary rules, so that they can deal with technical problems with more expertise and dispatch than the Congress or the courts. Regulations or supplementary rules passed by the administrative bodies are intended to fill-in the gaps and provide details to what is otherwise a broad statute passed by Congress. For the rules and regulations to be valid and binding, they must be in accordance with the statute on which they are based, complete in themselves, and fix sufficient standards. If any of the requirements is not satisfied, the regulation will not be allowed to affect private rights

The Completeness Test

Ideally, the law must be complete in all its essential terms and conditions when it leaves the legislature so that there will be nothing left for the delegate to do when it reaches him except enforce it. 

Sufficient Standard Test

It is intended to map out the boundaries of the delegate’s authority by defining the legislative policy and indicating the circumstances under which it is to be pursued and effected. The purpose of the sufficient standard is to prevent a total transference of legislative power from the lawmaking body to the delegate.