Delegated legislation

Delegated legislation allows technical or detailed rules to be adopted by the executive or another authority instead of the legislature itself. In Switzerland, this commonly appears as ordinances based on a statute or constitutional competence, at federal, cantonal or communal level. Delegation is limited by the hierarchy of norms: the delegated act must remain within the legal basis and respect constitutional principles. It is important in fields requiring expertise or frequent updates, such as health, finance, environment, transport and professional regulation.