(a) implementing primary texts and (b) facilitating consistent decision making. (a) Primary texts created by the parliament or similar body might be general. (b) Rules and regulations are also created for making the day-to-day working of an executive actor uniform.
Examples: Example for (a). For instance, they might say that ‘food should be properly labelled’. To implement this provision, a food regulatory body might create regulations that go into the specifics of labelling, including the font of a label, the font size, the logo, where on package the label might be placed, whether licences are required, and the consequences of non-compliance with the regulations. Consequently, it might be understood from the primary text that a label is required but the specifications of this requirement are present in the implementing regulations. Example for (b). For instance, there might be rules about how to make a decision, or rules about the powers and duties of a food.
See also definition of secondary texts, minister, ministry, executive, decree, standards, guidelines in the primer on public law and regulation. Compare and contrast primary text.
Adapted from Bryan A. Garner (eds), Black’s law Dictionary, 11th ed., 2019, West Group, ISBN: 978-1539229759