Law on Legal Review and Expiration of 1992
| Law on Cultural Protection of 1992 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gylian Parliament | |
| Date passed | 23 November 1992 |
| Date signed | 23 November 1992 |
| Date commenced | 7 December 1992 |
| Summary | |
| Mandates automatic sunset provisions and explicit performance measurements for Gylian laws. | |
| Status: Current legislation | |
The Law on Legal Review and Expiration of 1992 is a Gylian federal law that mandates automatic sunset provisions for all laws, and explicit definition of performance measurements.
Background
The law was drafted by the New Alliance for the Future as part of the Mathilde Vieira government. It was seen by some as a "pet project" of Deputy Prime Minister Mielikki Salonen, who had strongly advocated for such a law during the 1990 federal election campaign. She argued that such a mechanism would prevent the legal codes from becoming unwieldy and strengthen political culture by encouraging clearer thinking on legislative goals and reflection on their relevance.
The first draft of the bill failed at a referendum in 1991. In response, the Parliament created a new draft, which was approved by referendum in 1992.
Text of the law
- This law shall regulate the drafting of legislation in Gylias.
- All laws passed by Gylian legislatures shall automatically expire after 10 years. They must define and include how their success at achieving their goals should be measured.
- After the defined period, a legislative committee will hear testimony about how the law has performed. If the law is still relevant and has achieved its goals, it can vote to reenact it for another 10 years. If the law is no longer relevant or unsuccessful, it expires.
- Legislatures can require laws to expire quicker, after 5 years.
Effects
The law requires Gylian legislation to include explicitly-defined means to assess its performance, and makes it automatically expire after a certain time. It requires legislatures to hear testimony about a law's performance as it nears expiration, and if it is found to remain relevant and have achieved its goals, it can be reenacted for another period.
The law has been credited with consolidating legislation and constraining the growth of legal codes, by automatically lapsing outdated or unsuccessful legislation. It has also encouraged Gylian legislatures to favour amending older legislation that remains in effect rather than passing new laws to supersede or complement older ones.
Similarly, a broad trend has developed of legislatures reserving up to 50% of legislative sessions to reflect on legislation about to sunset, as well as a practice of alternating a proposal for a new law with a reassessment of one nearing expiration.
Notable demonstrations of the law's effect came in 1998–2009, when Parliament reflected on and reauthorised most of the legislation passed by the Darnan Cyras government at the height of the Golden Revolution, and during the last recodifications of the Constitution and six codes.