Professional/Expert opinion or clarification received from Government Dept/Co Council or similar

Information correct at the tine it was given. Information out of date and superceded by new law. Not sure what you're looking for or where any confusion lies.

An expert on the law of lampposts is not the same thing as a prophet or fortune teller. As a lawyer I have a responsibility to give correct advice on the the law in force; I don't have a responsibility to predict correctly (or, usually, to predict at all) how or when the law will change in the future.

If you get a very formal legal opinion — like, the kind of thing provicded in support of a public listing of securities or a multi-million dollar merger/acquisition, yes, it will come larded with pages of qualifiers and statements as to the basis of the opinion and what it covers and doesn't cover, and buried in there will be a paragraph which says we are advising on the basis of the law in force as at the date of the opinion. But in most contexts most clients don't want to get, and don't want to read, and certainly don't want to pay for, that kind of opinion.

On edit: I realise that you're talking not about advice received from a lawyer, but information provided by a government department or local government.

There's two possible situations here:

1. You get information from the county council. The following day, the Minister makes new regulations requiring lampposts to be pink. There's no issue; the county council has no more obligation than a lawyer would have to predict what the Minister is about to do.
2. You get information from the Department which advises the Minister. The following day, the Minister makes new regulations. The Department — or, at least, some people within it, even if not the people you spoke to — almost certainly did have some knowledge that this was in the offing. Did they have a responsibility to tell you? No, is the answer — you have no right to privileged advance knowledge of impending changes to the law before it's announced or published generally.

Suppose you didn't ask the Department what colour lamp-posts had to be because you already knew what the law said. So you bought the paint, and then the law was changed overnight. You might be quite pissed off, but what could you do? If the guy who asked was entitled to compensation but you were not, you would be effectively penalised for knowing your business. That couldn't be right.

If there's an objection to be made, it's that the law was changed suddenly, without a reasonable lead-in time to enable people to make arrangements. That is an object which could be made regardless of whether you had recently enquired or not. So the issue is not really "do you get a right to private advance notice of impending changes if you make an enquiry about the law?" but "is it reasonable of the authorities to change the law suddenly and without notice in a way that disadvantages people?" It may be reasonable; it may not be reasonable — we don't know why the Minister felt the need to introduce this change overnight, so at present we can't say.

Some bye laws are changed very quickly and some with little or no debate or publicity. Legislation takes time to enact although there have been cases such as the IBRC Act where it was done literally overnight. Some delegated legislation is changed with no public debate at all and the only publicity being in Iris Oifiguil.

Bye laws regarding reduced speed limits to facilitate road works. Many statutory instruments are changed withouit publicity.

Below are the first 10 from this year.

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Act 2022 (Commencement) Order 2023.

2Statistics (Producer Prices Survey) Order 2023.

3Statistics (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2023.

4Road Traffic (National Car Test) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

5Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

6Financial Services And Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017 [Financial Services And Pensions Ombudsman Council] Financial Services Industry Levy Regulations 2023.

7Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 (Section 42) (Restrictive Measures Concerning Certain Persons and Entities Associated With the Isil - Qaida Organisations) Regulations 2023.

8Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 (Appointment of Registration Body) Order 2023.

9Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 (Section 6) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.

10Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Investment Firms) Regulations 2023.

How much publicity did any of the above get?

"Bye laws regarding reduced speed limits to facilitate road works." - these are done via a manager's order, not via bye-laws, and have a maximum effect of one year. Going through a public consultation every time someone want's a utility connection or a pothole is being filler would be crazy.