Northern Ireland Assembly Flax Flower Logo

SESSION 2001 - 2002

ELEVENTH REPORT OF THE EXAMINER OF STATUTORY RULES
TO
THE ASSEMBLY
AND
THE APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES

(listed below)

DATED 19 APRIL 2002

Employment and Learning Committee

(S.R. 2002 Nos. 93, 110, 133 and 135)

  1. In accordance with the revised delegations under Standing Order 41 given to the Examiner of Statutory Rules by the appropriate Committees in October and November 2001, I submit my report on the statutory rules listed in the Appendix. At the same time, I am sending a copy of this report to each of the Departments concerned.
  2. S.R. 2002 No. 93 is subject to negative resolution; S.R. 2002 No. 133 is subject to affirmative procedure; and S.R. 2002 Nos. 110 and 135 are subject to a confirmatory procedure.S.R. 2002 No. 110 has been replaced (and revoked) by S.R. 2002 No. 135 because the Department for Employment and Learning found an error in the earlier instrument after it had been made and laid.
  3. I draw the attention of the Assembly and the Employment and Learning Committee to thePneumoconiosis, etc. (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 133) on the ground that it is defectively drafted in one respect as acknowledged by the Department for Employment and Learning.
  4. Regulation 2 (1) reads-

"(1) The principal Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4) in relation to any case in which a person first satisfies the conditions of entitlement to a payment under the Order on the day after they [these Regulations] are approved by the Assembly.".

What seems to have happened here is that the Department became too wrapped up in the commencement formula set out in regulation 1(1) to the extent that it became somewhat confused in its drafting of the provision relating to the application of the compensation increases. I suggested to the Department that in order to properly fulfil the intention the provision should have read-

"(1) The principal Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4) in relation to any case in which a person first satisfies the conditions of entitlement to a payment under the Order on or after the day on which these Regulations come into operation.". (my emphasis)

That accords with the position for previous increases and with the corresponding Regulations for Great Britain.

  1. The Department has acknowledged the defect to me. At the same time, it clearly does not want to throw out the baby (that is to say, the benefit of the compensation increases arising on or after the commencement of the Regulations) with the bath water (that is to say, the defective provision). So what is to be done? The Department submits that, although defective, the intention behind the provision is reasonably clear, and it seems to me that there is some considerable strength in that argument. Accordingly, the Department has undertaken to amend the defective provision at the earliest opportunity by means of Regulations under Article 11(4) of the Pneumoconiosis, etc. (Workers' Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979: such amending Regulations, because they would invoke the powers under Articles 3 and 4 of the 1979 Order, to alter the prescribed amounts of compensation, would be subject to negative resolution rather than affirmative resolution: see Article 11(3); and, while perhaps rather messy, this seems to be the best solution that can be achieved to preserve the intended compensation increases arising when they were intended to arise.
  2. Accordingly, I draw the attention of the Assembly and the Employment and Learning Committee to the Pneumoconiosis, etc. (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 133) on the ground that it is defectively drafted in one respect as acknowledged by the Department for Employment and Learning. I also draw attention to the Department's approach to remedying the defect which it has considered in conjunction with me.
  3. Subject to the points set out in paragraphs 3 to 6, there is nothing in the statutory rules covered by this report that requires to be brought to the special attention of the Assembly and the appropriate Committees under any of the grounds mentioned in Standing Order 41(5).

W G Nabney

Examiner of Statutory Rules

19 April 2002

APPENDIX

(The attention of the Assembly and the appropriate Committee is drawn to the statutory rule marked in bold )

Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 93)

Maternity and Parental Leave etc. (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

(S.R. 2002 No. 110) ¶

Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Payment of Claims) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 133)

Maternity and Parental Leave etc. (Amendment No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 135)

¶ Revoked and replaced by S.R. 2002 No. 135