Byelaws in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, byelaws are laws of local or limited application made by local councils or other bodies, in specific areas using powers granted by the relevant Acts of Parliament, and so are a form of delegated legislation. Some byelaws are also made by private companies or charities that exercise public or semi-public functions, such as airport operators, water companies or the National Trust.

Formerly, because byelaws created criminal offences that can be prosecuted in magistrates' courts or Justice of the Peace Courts in Scotland, they had to be approved by central government before they came into force. However, due to the Local Government Byelaws (Wales) Act 2012 and the Byelaws (Alternative Procedure) (England) Regulations 2016, there is a simplified procedure for making new byelaws and amending byelaws, including replacing the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government's role in confirming byelaws. This is now a matter for the local council concerned, having taken account of any representations made about a proposed byelaw.^[1] The regulations also give councils powers to revoke byelaws under an entirely local process.

Local council byelaws are generally restricted in scope to activities in a particular place, for example a public park, or a particular class of activities, such as amusement arcades. Byelaws are not made for an activity where there is already legislation. Byelaws made by public transport companies are limited to the transport facilities operated by the organisation making the byelaw. Because they only apply to limited areas or facilities, byelaws are generally not made by Statutory Instrument.