Byelaws

Delegated legislation made by local authorities and other organisations is usually called byelaws (or by-laws - either spelling is acceptable). Within one local area, the City of Bristol has about fifty byelaws currently in force, covering such matters as the use of public libraries, the fouling of footpaths by dogs, and the employment of children. Bath has (inter alia) byelaws made under s.235 above making it an offence for a person to consume alcohol in a "designated place" (essentially, any street or open space in the city centre) after being warned by a constable. Both Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire have byelaws made under s.15(7) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, following a standard pattern adopted by many local authorities across the country) and regulating acupuncture, tattooing and ear piercing, mainly in relation to the general cleanliness of premises and operators and the sterilisation of instruments. There is even a page devoted to byelaws on the North Somerset Council web site, but the byelaws themselves are not set out in any detail.

Byelaws can also be made by semi-private bodies such as the National Trust and the Train Operating Companies; these are not merely internal rules, but have the force of law and can be enforced by the courts.

Boddington v British Transport Police [1998] 2 All ER 203, HL

British Rail (shortly before privatisation) made a byelaw under s.67(c) of the Transport Act 1962 as amended, prohibiting smoking where "no smoking" notices were displayed; they subsequently introduced a total ban on some trains and displayed notices to this effect. A smoker A defied this prohibition; he was convicted and fined £10 by the stipendiary magistrate, and his conviction was upheld on appeal.