In constitutional

Constitutional law

Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....

 and administrative law

Administrative law

Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...

, the principle delegata potestas non potest delegari (Latin) states that ‘no delegated powers can be further delegated’. Alternatively, it can be stated delegatus non potest delegare, ‘one to whom power is delegate

Delegate

A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...

d cannot himself further delegate that power’. This principle is present in several jurisdictions such as that of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

United States law

In United States law one of the earliest mentions of the principle occurred when it was cited by counsel for one of the litigants before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the court of last resort for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It meets in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.-History:...

 in 1794, in M'Intire v. Cunningham, 1 Yeates 363 (Pa. 1794). The summary of the case reports, "Mr. Wilson had given no power to Noarth to transact his business; but if he even had, it is a maxim, that delegata potestas non potest delegari."

The maxim was first cited by the Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 in United States v. Sav. Bank, 104 U.S. 728 (1881), where the case summary reports that one of the litigants argued that, "The duty imposed by statute on the commissioner cannot be delegated to a collector. Delegata potestas non potest delegari."

Catholic Canon law

Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 Canon law

Canon law (Catholic Church)

The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...

(Title XIII) states:

Codex Iuris Canonici 137

§ 1 Ordinary executive power can be delegated either for an individual case or for all cases, unless the law expressly provides otherwise.

§ 2 Executive power delegated by the Apostolic See can be subdelegated, either for an individual case or for all cases, unless the delegation was deliberately given to the individual alone, or unless subdelegation was expressly prohibited.

§ 3 Executive power delegated by another authority having ordinary power, if delegated for all cases, can be subdelegated only for individual cases; if delegated for a determinate act or acts, it cannot be subdelegated, except by the express grant of the person delegating.

§ 4 No subdelegated power can again be subdelegated, unless this was expressly granted by the person delegating.

Canada

The principle was first articulated in Canada in 1943 in an article in the Canadian Bar Review by John Willis. While it is acknowledged as "the seminal articulation of the law governing the subdelegation of statutory and discretionary powers" and is still often cited, it has not achieved the rigid standing originally intended. The maxim has had some success as an operating principle in the restriction of delegation of legislative and judicial powers but the demands of modern governmental regulatory practices have inhibited its application in the delegation of administrative powers. Exceptions are rare and dependent on the statute conferring power.