Lord Sumption:

Obviously, I agree with that but I think that the speaker was right to point out that there is a difference of approach between pre-legislative scrutiny and post-legislative scrutiny. When we are dealing with emergency powers, there will necessarily be very little room for pre-legislative scrutiny. Apart from anything else in a country where emergency powers are written into the Constitution, where it exists, as in the case in the UK, under previous existing legislation there would be no scope at all. The framework of regulations would be there and it would be couched in very general terms. What really matters is not the scope of the rules, but how the rules are exercised by Ministers. That is why I think it is particularly crucial to have post-legislative scrutiny. Where powers are being conferred on Ministers to govern by decree, the closer should be the degree of scrutiny of what the Ministers are actually doing with these powers.

That is an area in which the United Kingdom has fallen short, as most European countries probably have. It may well be an area in which Ireland has also fallen short but it is absolutely critical. If we are going to depart from the basic principles of democracy to the extent of allowing ministers to rule by decree, it is extremely important they be held on a very short lead indeed.