Law (convention and Individual Ministerial Responsibility) Free Essay Example, 1500 words

The traditional concept of IMR is that the minister is ultimately responsible for all the actions of civil servants under him even though he may not have the knowledge of such actions. A case in point was the resignation of Sir Thomas Dugdale over the Crichel Down case in 1954. The minister of Agriculture resigned despite of the fact that the mistakes within his department were committed without his knowledge with some of the mistakes even deliberately and mischievously committed by the civil servants. The successful invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina also prompted the resignation of Lord Carrington, then Foreign Secretary, along with two of his junior ministers. The contention was that they failed to their duties by ensuring a sound Foreign Policy2. However, the convention is now being interpreted such that lack of knowledge no longer makes a minister fully responsible for the actions of his ministry’s civil servants although he is still required to explain to the Parliament. Sir David Maxwell summed it up in the following statement3: â€Å"The Minister is bound to defend action of which he did not know or of which he disapproves. We will write a custom essay sample on Law (convention and Individual Ministerial Responsibility) or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now But he remains constitutionally responsible to the Parliament for the fact that something has gone wrong and he alone can tell Parliament what has occurred and rendered an account of his stewardship†. The minister is given four options to give effect to the IMR which are the following4: 1. Inform and Explain The minister is expected to inform the Parliament of any developments and major events within his ministry. He is also expected to explain actions and policies to the same institution. The methods available for the ministers to be able to do this are ministerial statements, green and white papers and consultation papers. 2. Apologise The minister is expected to apologise to the Parliament for any error within his ministry even though this may not directly involve him. 3. Take Action Failure or unsatisfactory affairs within the minister’s sphere of responsibility are expected to be remedied by the minister. This applies whether or not resignation is involved. 4. Resign If the minister has been proven to be negligent of their duties or if he cannot offer any satisfactory explanations for any mishaps within his department then the ultimate recourse for him is to resign his position. As noted earlier, the ministers may not be held responsible for any actions within his ministry that he has no knowledge of but he is still accountable to Parliament.