A Royal Decree-Law is a legal rule having the force of a

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

legal system. The name of "Royal" is given because it has state rank and it is the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

who is responsible for sanctioning and ordering the publication and compliance of the rule. However, when the rule is created by an

autonomous government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

, it receives the name of "Decree-Law" because the King only sanctions the Decrees of the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

(the autonomous community Decree-Law is sanctioned by the President of the Autonomous Community in the name of the KingPromulgación y publicación de leyes de comunidades autónomas
/ref>).

Requirements to use the Decree-Law

The

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

says literally: This means that there are two fundamental conditions to use the figure of the Royal Decree-Law; That certain measures must be implemented urgently (and can not be carried out by the normal

parliamentary process Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or ...

because it is very slow), and that the Decree-Law is created because of situation of extraordinary necessity.

Limits of the Decree-Law

According to th
Spanish Constitution
there are 3 limits to the application of the Decree-Law: * Circumstantial limits: About the fact that causes the birth of the decree-law (see Requirements). * Material limits: The Decree-Law can not legislate on certain matters. * Temporal limits: The Decree-Law is temporary and must be ratified, rejected or converted into law by the

Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meet ...

Circumstantial limits

The first of the limits lies in the non-compliance with the initial requirements. If the Decree-Law is not created because of an urgent and extraordinary need, it can be eliminated.

Material limits

The Constitution enumerates a series of subjects on which the Decree-Law does not have the capacity to legislate. These are: * The Decree-Law may not affect the legal system of the basic State institutions. * The Decree-Law may not affect the rights, duties and freedoms of the citizens contained i
Part I
of the Constitution. * The Decree-Law may not affect the system of Self-governing of the

Autonomous Communities eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

. * The Decree-Law may not affect the General Electoral Law.

Temporal limits

The Decree-Law is temporary and, according to the

: This means that within 30 days, the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

must debate whether or not the Decree-Law is valid and has three possibilities: # The Congress can ratify the Decree-Law and it becomes part of the legal system (the Decree-Law is part of the legal system since its creation, but needs the ratification of the Congress to stay on it). # The Congress can repeal the Decree-Law and it is expelled from the legal system. # The Congress may process them as Government

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

s by means of the urgency procedure. (This allows the Decree-Law to elevate to the status of

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

). The Royal Decree-Law may occupy the "place" or regulate matters that would be dealt with by ordinary law, but never of those matters reserved for the organic law (fundamental rights, autonomy statutes, electoral regime ...). With these limits the Constitution tries to avoid the abusive use of the Decree-Law, but since it is the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

who decides when it is a moment of urgent and extraordinary need, many times the Decree-Law does not literally respect the initial requirements.

Judicial control

According to the Constitution, the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

is the only body authorized to rule whether a rule with force of law is legal or not. This means that the Constitutional Court can judge not only the

laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

, but the rules with force of law as is the case of the Decree-Law. If the Constitutional Court considers that the situation of urgent and extraordinary need is not such or that if the subject matter is not within its competence, it may declare it totally or partially

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

and expel it from the legal system. For this reason, it is often considered that the Constitutional Courts are negative legislators, lacking the power to make laws but with the power to repeal all or portions of the unconstitutional laws/acts.

References

Most of the information is taken from the

Spanish Constitution of 1978 The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was ...

. {{Reflist Law of Spain