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Local Government Act 2002

Regulatory, enforcement, and coercive powers of local authorities - Local authority legislation

161B: Instruments that have significant legislative effect

You could also call this:

“Rules that make big changes to people's rights and duties”

When you make a rule or decision that affects people’s rights or duties, it’s called an instrument. This instrument has a big effect on the law if it does two things:

  1. It creates, changes, or takes away rights or duties that people have.
  2. It changes the law that applies to everyone or a group of people.

If an instrument changes when rights or duties start or stop, or when a law starts or stops applying to people, it’s treated the same as if it changed the rights, duties, or law itself.

When deciding if an instrument has a big effect on the law, you don’t need to worry about what it’s called, what it looks like, who made it, if part of it needs to be approved by Parliament, or if it also includes some administrative stuff.

An instrument doesn’t have a big effect on the law if it just explains rights or duties in a way that doesn’t force you to do anything, as long as it doesn’t do anything else that would make it have a big effect.

If an instrument is made using a power given by law and it puts duties on one person or case, it doesn’t change the law just because that power applies to everyone or a group of people.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS599198.

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161A: What is local authority legislation, or

“Local authorities can make rules that are like laws, but with some special conditions”

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161C: Other supporting definitions, or

“Easy explanations of special words used in this part of the law”

Part 8 Regulatory, enforcement, and coercive powers of local authorities
Local authority legislation

161BInstruments that have significant legislative effect

  1. An instrument has a significant legislative effect for the purposes of this subpart if the effect of the instrument is to do both of the following:

  2. create, alter, or remove rights or obligations; and
    1. determine or alter the content of the law applying to the public or a class of the public.

      1. For the purposes of subsection (1),—

      2. an instrument that determines or alters the temporal application of rights or obligations must be treated as having the effect described in paragraph (a) of that subsection; and
        1. an instrument that determines or alters the temporal application of the law applying to the public or a class of the public must be treated as having the effect described in paragraph (b) of that subsection.

          1. In applying subsection (1), the following must be disregarded:

          2. the description, form, and maker of the instrument:
            1. whether all or a portion of the instrument needs to be confirmed by an Act:
              1. whether the instrument also contains provisions that are administrative.

                1. An instrument does not have a significant legislative effect if it explains or interprets rights or obligations in a non-binding way, as long as the instrument does not do anything else that would bring it within subsection (1).

                2. An instrument that is made in the exercise of a statutory power and imposes obligations in an individual case does not determine or alter the content of the law just because the statutory power applies generally or to a class of persons.

                Notes
                • Section 161B: inserted, on , by section 14 of the Legislation (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2019 (LI 2021/247).