Parliamentary Review and Judicial Oversight of Executive Legislation: An Assessment of the Canadian Experience

Executive legislation is a form of law made by government bodies or officials to whom primary legislators (parliaments and legislatures) have delegatewd legislative authority. The exercise of this authority is subject to both parliamentary scrutiny and judicial review. This paper looks at the relationship between these functions and considers whether they are being performed sufficiently to ensure democratic accountability for executive legislation. It concludes that although these functions do not conflict, there are serious concerns about whether they ensure democratic accountability for executive legislation in Canada.