Outsourcing Rulemaking Powers

Outsourcing rulemaking power is common in many polities. It raises complex issues of constitutional principle and legal doctrine. Cedric Jenart's book is a valuable addition to the literature in this area. It examines in depth and from a comparative perspective the twin features that shape this area: the constitutional limits to outsourcing by the legislature and/or the executive; and the standards that must be complied with by actors outside the traditional governmental structure if outsourcing is allowed. * Paul Craig, Emeritus Professor of English Law, St John's College, Oxford, UK *
Complex and fragmented societies are faced with an overwhelming demand for the regulation of economic, social, environmental, and other problems. Rules, however, are set not only by parliament(s), but by a wide range of public and private standard setters. In his excellent piece of scholarship, Cedric Jenart covers the constitutional ground for this decentralised system of rulemaking across a number of jurisdictions. The book is a most welcome in-depth contribution to a Pan-European discussion about the function and the responsibilities of Parliaments in relation to other governance-capacities within modern societies. * Professor Dr. Florian Becker, LL.M., Institut für Öffentliches Wirtschaftsrecht, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Deutschland *
Building on the rulemaking practices of the executive, Cedric Jenart argues for incorporating the regulatory activities of independent public agencies and private or semi-private institutions into modern public law. With a wealth of legal material and case studies, plus a fascinating look at the World Anti-Doping Agency, Jenart argues that such delegation can be justified in a democracy but should take different forms depending on their expected value: insulation from politics, the need for expertise, or stakeholder involvement. * Susan Rose-Ackerman, Henry R. Luce Professor Emeritus of Law and Political Science and Professorial Lecturer in Law, Yale University, USA *
Governments around the world increasingly delegate or “outsource” the power to make rules imposing obligations upon citizens, to public-private partnerships, purely private organizations, and NGOs, or absorb those organization's rules into public law. In this valuable contribution to comparative constitutional and comparative administrative law, Cedric Jenart gives us a comprehensive study of the limits principles of democracy and legality - as embodied in international and domestic law - place on outsourcing, delegation, and absorption reveals a surprisingly wide range of legal limits on an equally surprisingly range of practices. The concluding study of anti-doping regulations in sport provides an illuminating concrete example of why the question is important. * Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law emeritus, Harvard Law School, USA *