A Royal Legislative Decree 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 contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history an ...

. 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 and the name of "Legislative" is given because it is a delegation from parliament. 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 "Legislative Decree" 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 Legislative Decree 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 Royal Legislative Decree

In order to delegate the legislative capacity of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

to 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 a ...

, Parliament must make a

(known as Delegation Law or Law of Delegation) to allow it. In this way, the Legislative Decree that is created will already be backed by

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 a ...

and will become part of the

with full rights. The law of delegation can take two forms: * Bases Law. With this law, foundations are laid on which the government has to legislate to make an articulated text '' ex novo''. * Ordinary Law. With an ordinary law, the power to recast laws is delegated to the government, so laws that were separate could be united and create a single piece of legislation.

Limits of the Royal Legislative Decree

According to th
Spanish Constitution
there are 3 limits to the application of the Decree-Law: * Material limits. The Legislative Decree can only legislate on matters that Congress has previously allowed (matters reserved to

organic law An organic law is a law, or system of laws, that form the foundation of a government, corporation or any other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state. By country France Under Article ...

cannot be delegated). * Procedural Limits. To approve a Legislative Decree, the government has to follow the guidelines set by law. * Limits of use. The delegation can be used only once.

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 law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

, but the rules with force of law as is the case of the Legislative Decree. If the Constitutional Court considers 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

. 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 e ...

. {{Reflist Law of Spain

Requirements to use the Royal Legislative Decree

Limits of the Royal Legislative Decree

Judicial control

See also

References