Delegatus Non-Potest Delegare
LITERAL MEANING
In the absence of power, a delegate cannot sub-delegate its power to another person.
ORIGIN
Latin
EXPLANATION
The maxim is a principle in the constitutional and administrative law which means that a person to whom an authority or decision-making power has been delegated to from a higher source, cannot, in turn, delegate again to another unless the original delegation explicitly authorized it. In simple terms, a delegate cannot re-delegate. It says that no legislative body can delegate to another department of the government, or to any other authority, the power, either generally or specially, to enact laws which embodies the principle underlying the maxim, Delegatus non Potest Delegare.
The maxim deals with the extent to which a statutory authority may permit another to exercise a discretion entrusted by the statute to itself. It is true that delegation in its general sense does not imply a parting with statutory powers by the authority which grants the delegation, but points rather to the conferring of an authority to do things which otherwise that administrative authority would have to do for itself.
The maxim is derived from and is most frequently applied in matters relating to principal and agent but is not confined thereto. In general, the maxim deals with delegation.
ILLUSTRATION
- An auditor who has been appointed to audit the accounts of a company cannot delegate the task to another unless expressly allowed to do so. If express authorization has not been granted the auditor will have acted ultra vires.
- An attorney given legal authority in a power of attorney cannot, of their own volition, delegate the exercise of that authority without the consent of the person who granted the power of attorney.
CASE LAWS
The State vs Kunja Bihari Chandra And Ors.
The Patna High Court while referring to the above maxim held that “Because of the legislative power of the government is vested exclusively in the legislature, the general rule enunciated by Cooley is that the legislature cannot surrender or abdicate such power and any attempt to do so will be unconstitutional and void. There is also the well-known maxim Delegatus non Potest Delegare, which means that the power to make laws cannot be delegated by the legislature to any other authority.”
