CAPE Law Unit 1 · 2014 · Paper 2 · Question 4(a)

Under Section 6 of the Pharmacies Act, the Minister of Health is empowered to issue directions of a general nature on policy to the Pharmacies Registration Board (PRB) in the public interest. The Minister directs the PRB not to intervene in the market by setting prices or maintaining price caps on certain imported drugs. Subsequently, the Director of the PRB issues a determination increasing the price of certain imported drugs by ten percent.

Determine whether the Minister's direction is ultra vires Section 6 of the Act.