Checklist for developing regulations

Departmental planning for the development of regulations should take account of the time needed for each step of the process. Regulations should be prepared in sufficient time for them to have policy issues (if any) resolved at Cabinet committee and Cabinet level, be drafted and submitted to the Cabinet Legislation Committee (LEG) and the Executive Council and then be gazetted 28 days before they come into force.

A timetable should be worked out at the beginning of the process. Allowance should be made for the following steps:

  1. development of the policy, including consultation with departments and officials' committees if applicable, and the drafting of a paper for Cabinet committee decision;
  2. the Minister's consideration of a draft paper and Ministerial consultation, if required;
  3. submission of the paper to the relevant policy Cabinet committee;
  4. confirmation of the Cabinet committee decision by Cabinet;
  6. drafting of the regulations by the Parliamentary Counsel Office;
  8. submission of the paper to LEG;
  9. confirmation of the LEG decision by Cabinet and submission of the regulations to the Executive Council on the same day if Cabinet agrees;
  10. publication or notification in the New Zealand Gazette on the following Thursday; and

Steps 9 - 11 alone can take over 40 calendar days. An absolute minimum of six weeks should be allowed between the completion of the drafting of the regulations and the date on which the regulations come into force, assuming all preceding steps have been completed satisfactorily.

There will be some weeks during the year when Cabinet committees and/or Executive Council will not be meeting. This can add further weeks to the process, and should be taken into account when planning the development of regulations.  The indicative timetable for Cabinet, Cabinet committees and the Executive Council is available from the Public Service Intranet (link only available to people with access to the Public Service Intranet).