The question of the appropriate amount of discretion that the executive branch should wield, and within it in particular regulatory bodies, is central to the understanding of how regulation and enforcement work, and to efforts to make them both more effective and efficient.
Academics from different and complementary fields, representatives of state institutions and international organizations initiated a dialogue on the centrality of the discretion issue. The seminar, co-hosted by the IAL, took place on 5 december at the Academy for Legislation in The Hague – The Netherlands.
Presentations
Session 2: Different kinds of discretion – different contexts – different visions
- Donald Macrae: The hierarchy of norms and the question of regulatory discretion
- Egle Maurice: Arguing about laws and discretion: how and why arguments conflict
- Florentin Blanc: Uses and abuses of discretion in enforcement: an international perspective
- Annetje Ottow: The role of discretion for economic regulators (no presentation available)
Session 3: Is enforcement without discretion possible?
- Graham Russell: The need for, and boundaries, of discretion in enforcement – the role of competency in ensuring confidence and safety
- Sandra Rousseau: The link between economic efficiency and discretion, applied to environmental enforcement
- Herman Bröring: Lex certa. Open norms and the (im)possibilities of enforcement
- Wendy McVey: Using discretion appropriately in OSH regulation
Session 4: Upsides and downsides of increased regulatory discretion
- Remigijus Simasius: Why the normative approach does not work, and a more flexible interpretation of norms does (no presentation available)
- Theodor Kockelkoren: Working with discretion in practice – balancing upsides and downsides
- Jan van Tol: Regulatory discretion and the risk-regulation reflex
- Ira Helsloot: Legislation vs. liability – from regulatory discretion to judicial discretion