What’s they delay? (waiting for the other shoe to drop)
After an Act has been passed by Parliament it rarely comes into operation immediately. Why the delay?
One reason is the need for implementing regulations. The legislative changes can be seen as a "set" of provisions, some in the Act, some in the regulations made under the Act. If seen this way, they are like a pair of shoes - one shoe without the other is not much use (unless you want to hop around in circles).
There are other reasons too. After a law has been enacted it needs to be implemented (as shown in our legislation cycle diagram on the right). If seen this way, there is a single polic
y initiative, as set out in the Act, followed by implementation. In Indonesia this concept is called socialisasi - socialisation of the changes that have been decided upon and will, at some time in the future, be brought into operation. There is only one "shoe" - and it does not "drop" for some time.
OK, then – why the delay?
The delay after an Act has been passed is to allow implementation. That answers the question, "what's the delay?". But why should it occur, and how long should it be?
The possible answers are:
- to develop and make implementing regulations. This can be substantial, particularly if they have not been prepared while the primary legislation was being enacted: and even more substantial if there are inadequate resources applied to the task, extensive public consultation is required or regulatory impact analysis is needed;
- to develop administrative systems such as law enforcement, record keeping and permit issuing;
- to publicise the proposal - so that affected persons know what is coming.
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