Enabling act

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An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) for the delegation of the legislative body's power to take certain actions. [1] For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to carry out specific government policies in a modern nation. The effects of enabling acts from different times and places vary widely.

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Germany

The German word for an enabling act is Ermächtigungsgesetz (lit. 'empowering law'). It usually refers to the enabling act of 23 March 1933 which became a cornerstone of Adolf Hitler's seizure of power.

Acts of 1914–1927

The first enabling act is dated from 4 August 1914 just after the German entry into World War I. With the vote of the Social Democratic Party, the Reichstag (the German Empire's parliament) agreed to give the government certain powers to take the necessary economic measures during the war. Such enabling acts were also common in other countries. The Reichstag had to be informed, and had the right to abolish a decree based on the enabling act. This ensured that the government used its rights with care and only in rare cases was a decree abolished. The parliament retained its right to make law. [2]

In the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), there were several enabling acts: three in 1919, one in 1920, one in 1921, three in 1923, one in 1926, and one in 1927. The enabling act on 24 February 1923, originally limited until 1 June but extended until 31 October, empowered the cabinet to resist the occupation of the Ruhr. [3] There was an enabling act on 13 October 1923 and an enabling act on 8 December 1923 that would last until the dissolution of the Reichstag on 13 March 1924. [4]

Most of them had a temporal limit but only vague thematic limits. On the basis of these acts, a vast number of decrees were signed with enormous importance for social and economic life, the judicial system, and taxes. For example, the reform of German currency in response to hyperinflation, the merger of the Länderbahnen into the Deutsche Reichsbahn national railway system, and unemployment pay were settled via such decrees (Vollmacht-Verordnungen). [5] The Emminger Reform of 4 January 1924 abolished the jury as trier of fact and replaced it with a mixed system of judges and lay judges in Germany's judiciary which still exists today.

These enabling acts were unconstitutional, as the Weimar constitution did not provide the possibility that one organ (parliament) would transfer its rights to another one (executive government). But constitutional experts accepted them because they came into existence with a two-thirds majority, the same majority as for constitutional changes. The government had succeeded in gathering those majorities by threatening to call for presidential emergency dictatorial decrees (Notverordnungen), otherwise. In March 1924, the Reichstag wanted to discuss the abolition of decrees (which was granted by the enabling act of February that year). President Friedrich Ebert dismissed parliament to avoid discussion and abolishments.[ citation needed ]

In later years, governments failed to gather two-thirds of majorities since the radicalization of the revolutionary national-conservative German National People's Party in 1928 and the rise of the National Socialist Workers' Party (Nazi Party) after 1930. Chancellor Heinrich Brüning (1930–1932) worked with presidential decrees which replaced most of the ordinary legislature, eventually.

The enabling acts had set a poor and dangerous example, but for the government, they had the advantage that they appeared less unconstitutional and dictatorial compared to presidential decrees. Parliament could prefer those acts because they were valid only for a limited time and included mostly a kind of cooperation (e.g. via a special house committee).

Enabling Act of 1933

The German word Ermächtigungsgesetz usually refers to the Enabling Act of 1933, officially Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich ("Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the State"). It became a cornerstone of Adolf Hitler's seizure of power. Unlike, for example, Wilhelm Marx's enabling act of December 1923, Hitler's Act:

In comparison to the situation of the 1920s, Hitler's Nazi Party and his coalition partner the DNVP did have a parliamentary majority since the general elections of 3 March 1933. [6] Those elections and then the voting in the Reichstag were carried out in a climate of intimidation and violence carried out by right-wing paramilitary groups such as the Nazi Sturmabteilung . On 23 March, the Communist Party of Germany was already banned and its delegates imprisoned, the Social Democrat delegates were the only ones present in the Reichstag to vote against, while the Centre Party and centre-right parties voted yes.

The Enabling Act of 1933 was renewed by a purely Nazi Reichstag in 1937 and 1939. In 1941 and 1943, it was renewed by decree, though without a time limit in 1943. Although it states that it is valid only for the duration of the current Hitler government of 1933, it remained in force even after major changes of ministers. In any case, Hitler called the cabinet together only very rarely after the first months of 1933. The last cabinet meeting happened in 1937. He preferred to govern via decrees and personal orders.

Federal Republic

Following the enactment in 1949 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), there have been no enabling acts in the Federal Republic of Germany. The constitution states that it can be changed only by an explicit alteration of the phrasing.

United Kingdom

Act of 1919

The Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 76) gave a considerable degree of self-government to the Church of England while retaining overall parliamentary supervision. Before its passing, almost all adjustments to the legal structure of the Church of England had involved getting a specific bill through Parliament. [7] It took nine sessions to approve the salary of the Archdeacon of Cornwall, [8] and of the 217 bills introduced into the House of Commons between 1880 and 1913, only 33 passed into law for lack of parliamentary time, among the casualties being the bills to establish new dioceses. [9]

The act gave the newly established Church Assembly, predecessor of the General Synod, power to prepare and present to Parliament measures which could either be approved or rejected, but not modified by either House. Before being voted on, the proposals were examined by an Ecclesiastical Committee of both Houses which reported on their effects and implications. Once approved in Parliament, the measure became law on receiving royal assent. [10]

The act continues to apply today to the General Synod of the Church of England which, as a result of the Synodical Government Measure 1969, replaced the Church Assembly with the aim of achieving full integration of the laity and eliminating the complications caused by the dual control of the Convocations of Canterbury and York, and the Assembly. All the Assembly's powers passed to the new synod along with many of those of the Convocations. [11]

Proposals

In the 1930s, both Sir Stafford Cripps and Clement Attlee advocated an enabling act to allow a future Labour government to pass socialist legislation which could not be amended by normal parliamentary procedures and the House of Lords. According to Cripps, his "Planning and Enabling Act" would not be able to be repealed, and the orders made by the government using the act would not be allowed discussion in Parliament. Cripps also suggested measures against the monarchy, but quickly dropped the idea. [12]

During the Great Depression and World War II, Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists pledged to enact an enabling act establishing a corporatist dictatorship if it were allowed to form a government. It would have totally nationalized the economy into a national corporation with 25 affiliates represented in the government through a reformed House of Lords, abolished the House of Commons' legislative authority, and allowed a royally-appointed Prime Minister and Cabinet to rule by decree through Orders in Council. [13] In 1966 Oswald Mosley advocated a government of national unity drawn from "the professions, from science, from the unions and the managers, from businessmen, the housewives, from the services, from the universities, and even from the best of the politicians". This coalition would be a "hard centre" oriented one which would also get Parliament to pass an Enabling Act in order to stop what Mosley described as "time-wasting obstructionism of present procedure". He also claimed that Parliament would always retain the power to dismiss his government by a motion of censure if its policies failed or if it attempted to "override basic British freedoms". [14]

Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006

In early 2006 the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill was introduced to Parliament. This Bill, if enacted as introduced, would have enabled Government ministers to amend or repeal any legislation (including the L&RR Bill itself), subject to vague and highly subjective restraints, by decree and without recourse to Parliament. The Bill was variously described as the "Abolition of Parliament Bill" [15] and "of first-class constitutional significance ... [and would] markedly alter the respective and long standing roles of minister and Parliament in the legislative process". [16] The Bill was, in essence, an Enabling Act in all but name. After some amendment by the government and Lords, the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill received Royal Assent on 8 November 2006. [17] Amendments included removing its ability to modify itself or the Human Rights Act 1998; most of the other modifications were much more subjectively defined.

United States

In the United States at the national level, an "enabling act" is a statute enacted by the United States Congress authorizing the people of a territory to frame a proposed state constitution as a step towards admission to the Union. Each act details the mechanism by which the territory will be admitted as a state following ratification of their constitution and election of state officers.

Enabling acts can contain restrictions, such as the prohibition of polygamy in the Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma acts. [18] Nevada was required to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime; to guarantee freedom of religious practice to all inhabitants; and to agree that all public lands owned by the federal government at the time of statehood would be retained after admission. [19] The applicant territory then submits its proposed constitution to Congress, which either accepts it or requires changes. For example, in 1866, Congress refused the proposed Nebraska constitution because it limited suffrage to white males. Enabling Acts approved by Congress include:

Although the use of an enabling act is a traditional historic practice, a number of territories have drafted constitutions for submission to Congress absent an enabling act and were subsequently admitted, and the act of Congress admitting Kentucky to the Union was passed before the constitution of Kentucky was drafted.

State Enabling Acts

At the state government level, state enabling acts allow local jurisdictions to make laws regarding certain issues on the state's behalf. For example, many states passed their own version of the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act, which enabled municipalities to regulate land use with local zoning laws. Other enabling acts have allowed municipalities to establish foreign-trade zones, collect impact fees, or create public utilities.

Venezuela

In Venezuela, enabling laws allowing the president to rule by decree in selected matters were granted to Rómulo Betancourt (1959), [23] Carlos Andrés Pérez (1974), [24] Jaime Lusinchi (1984), [25] Ramón José Velásquez (1993) [26] and Rafael Caldera (1994). [27] Pérez issued over 3,000 decrees under the powers delegated to him. [28]

In mid-2000, a similar law enabled Hugo Chávez to legislate on issues related to the economy, reorganization of government ministries and crime for one year. Chávez did not take advantage of this act until shortly before its expiration, when he passed 49 decrees in rapid succession, many of them highly controversial. [29] [30] In 2007, a new enabling act granted President Chávez powers for 18 months, giving the president the ability to rule by decree over certain economic, social, territorial, defense and scientific matters as well as control over transportation, regulations for popular participation and rules for governing state institutions. [31]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weimar Republic</span> German state from 1918 to 1933

The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic. The period's informal name is derived from the city of Weimar, which hosted the constituent assembly that established its government. In English, the republic was usually simply called "Germany", with "Weimar Republic" not commonly used until the 1930s. The Weimar Republic had a semi-presidential system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichstag Fire Decree</span> 1933 decree in Nazi Germany that abolished key civil liberties for citizens

The Reichstag Fire Decree is the common name of the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State issued by German President Paul von Hindenburg on the advice of Chancellor Adolf Hitler on 28 February 1933 in immediate response to the Reichstag fire. The decree nullified many of the key civil liberties of German citizens. With the Nazis in powerful positions in the German government, the decree was used as the legal basis for the imprisonment of anyone considered to be opponents of the Nazis, and to suppress publications not considered "friendly" to the Nazi cause. The decree is considered by historians as one of the key steps in the establishment of a one-party Nazi state in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enabling Act of 1933</span> Transfer of the Reichstags power to the government under Hitler

The Enabling Act of 1933, officially titled Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich, was a law that gave the German Cabinet – most importantly, the Chancellor – the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or Weimar President Paul von Hindenburg, leading to the rise of Nazi Germany. Critically, the Enabling Act allowed the Chancellor to bypass the system of checks and balances in the government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weimar Constitution</span> German constitution of 1919

The Constitution of the German Reich, usually known as the Weimar Constitution, was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The constitution declared Germany to be a democratic parliamentary republic with a legislature elected under proportional representation. Universal suffrage was established, with a minimum voting age of 20. The constitution technically remained in effect throughout the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945 as well as during the Allied occupation of Germany from 1945 to 1949, though practically it had been repealed by the Enabling Act of 1933 and thus its various provisions and protections went unenforced for the duration of Nazi rule, and after World War II, the power of the Allied Control Council and four occupying powers once again stood above the provisions of the constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre Party (Germany)</span> Political party in Germany

The Centre Party, officially the German Centre Party and also known in English as the Catholic Centre Party, is a Christian democratic political party in Germany. It was most Influential in the German Empire and Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it successfully battled the Kulturkampf waged by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck against the Catholic Church. It soon won a quarter of the seats in the Reichstag, and its middle position on most issues allowed it to play a decisive role in the formation of majorities. The party name Zentrum (Centre) originally came from the fact that Catholic representatives would take up the middle section of seats in parliament between the social democrats and the conservatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Germany (1919–1945)</span> Head of state under the Weimar Constitution

The president of the Reich was the German head of state under the Weimar constitution, which was officially in force from 1919 to 1945. In English he was usually simply referred to as the president of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Wels</span> German politician (1873–1939)

Otto Wels was a German politician who served as a member of the Reichstag from 1912 to 1933 and as the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1919 until his death in 1939. He was military commander of Berlin in the turbulent early days of the German Revolution of 1918–1919, and during the 1920 Kapp Putsch he was instrumental in organizing the general strike that helped defeat the anti-republican putschists. Near the end of the Weimar Republic's life, however, he saw the futility of calling a general strike against the 1932 Prussian coup d'état because of the mass unemployment of the Great Depression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichsrat (Germany)</span> German parliaments upper house, 1919–1934

The Reichsrat of the Weimar Republic was the de facto upper house of Germany's parliament; the lower house was the popularly elected Reichstag. The Reichsrat's members were appointed by the German state governments to represent their interests in the legislation and administration of the nation at the federal level. Its powers were relatively limited, making it considerably weaker than its predecessor, the Bundesrat of the German Empire (1871–1918). It could introduce legislation for the Reichstag to consider and veto laws that it passed, but the vetoes could be overridden. The Reichsrat also played a role in administering and implementing Reich laws.

Article 48 of the constitution of the Weimar Republic of Germany (1919–1933) allowed the Reich president, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the Reichstag. This power came to be understood to include the promulgation of emergency decrees. It was used frequently by Reich President Friedrich Ebert of the Social Democratic Party to deal with both political unrest and economic emergencies. Later, under President Paul von Hindenburg and the presidential cabinets, Article 48 was called on more and more often to bypass a politically fractured parliament and to rule without its consent. After the Nazi Party's rise to power in the early 1930s, the law allowed Chancellor Adolf Hitler, with decrees issued by Hindenburg, to create a totalitarian dictatorship by seemingly legal means.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 1933 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 5 March 1933, after the Nazi seizure of power on 30 January and just six days after the Reichstag fire. The election saw Nazi stormtroopers unleash a widespread campaign of violence against the Communist Party (KPD), left-wingers, trade unionists, the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. They were the last multi-party elections in a united Germany until 1990.

Enable or Enabling can refer to one of the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chancellor of Germany</span> Head of government of Germany

The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal government of Germany, and the commander-in-chief of the German Armed Forces during wartime. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag on the proposal of the federal president and without debate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichstag (Weimar Republic)</span> Legislative body of Weimar Germany

The Reichstag of the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was the lower house of Germany's parliament; the upper house was the Reichsrat, which represented the states. The Reichstag convened for the first time on 24 June 1920, taking over from the Weimar National Assembly, which had served as an interim parliament following the collapse of the German Empire in November 1918.

The Emminger Decree or Emminger Reform was an emergency decree in the democratic Weimar Republic by Justice Minister Erich Emminger (BVP) on 4 January 1924 that among other things abolished the jury as trier of fact and replaced it with a mixed system of judges and lay judges in Germany's judiciary which still exists today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reichstag (Nazi Germany)</span> Legislative body of Nazi Germany

The Reichstag, officially the Greater German Reichstag after 1938, was the national parliament of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Following the Nazi seizure of power and the enactment of the Enabling Act of 1933, it functioned purely as a rubber stamp for the actions of Adolf Hitler's dictatorship — always by unanimous consent — and as a forum to listen to Hitler's speeches. In this purely ceremonial role, the Reichstag convened only 20 times, the last on 26 April 1942. The President of the Reichstag throughout this period was Hermann Göring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundesrat (German Empire)</span> Upper house of the German Empires parliament

The Bundesrat was the highest legislative body in the German Empire (1871–1918). Its members were appointed by the governments of Germany's constituent states to represent their interests in the German parliament. The popularly elected Reichstag was the lower house. The Constitution of the German Empire required that both the Bundesrat and the Reichstag approve laws before they came into force. The Bundesrat was responsible for the enactment of the laws, administrative regulations and the judicial resolution of disputes between constituent states. Its approval was required for declarations of war and, with certain limitations, the conclusion of state treaties.

The Provisional Law and Second Law on the Coordination of the States with the Reich were two laws enacted by the German government of Adolf Hitler to expand its control over the seventeen German states (länder). The Provisional (First) Law dissolved all the sitting landtage, except for that of Prussia, and reconstituted them in accordance with the results of the recent parliamentary election of 5 March 1933, which had given the Nazi Party and its coalition partner, the German National People's Party (DNVP), a majority of the Reichstag seats. The Second Law established the new powerful position of Reichsstatthalter appointed by the central government to effectively take control of each state administration. The effect of these laws was to undermine the power and influence of all political parties other than the Nazis and the DNVP, and to move Germany significantly away from being a federal republic and put it on a path to becoming a unitary state.

The Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat was a measure enacted by the government of Nazi Germany on 14 February 1934 that abolished the second chamber of the German parliament.

References

  1. ↑ "Definition of Enabling legislation". Legal Choices. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  2. ↑ Huber, Ernst Rudolf (1978). Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789. Band V: Weltkrieg, Revolution und Reichserneuerung[History of the German constitution since 1789. Vol. V: World war, revolution and imperial renewal] (in German). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. pp. 37, 62–67.
  3. ↑ Rossiter, Clinton Lawrence (1948). Constitutional Dictatorship: Crisis Government in the Modern Democracies. Transaction. p. 45. ISBN   978-0-7658-0975-9.
  4. ↑ Kennedy, Ellen (2004). Constitutional Failure: Carl Schmitt in Weimar. Duke University Press. p. 150. ISBN   978-0-8223-3243-5.
  5. ↑ Huber, Ernst Rudolf (1978). Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789. Band VI: Die Weimarer Reichsverfassung[History of the German constitution since 1789. Vol. VI: The Weimar Constitution] (in German). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. pp. 438–449.
  6. ↑ Eilers, Sylvia (1987–1988). Ermächtigungsgesetz und militärischer Ausnahmezustand zur Zeit des ersten Kabinetts von Reichskanzler Wilhelm Marx 1923/1924[Enabling Act and military state of emergency at the time of the first cabinet of Chancellor Wilhelm Marx 1923/1924] (inaugural dissertation) (in German). Cologne. p. 163.
  7. ↑ Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A. (1971). "Enabling Act, The". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press.
  8. ↑ Iremonger, F. A. (1948). William Temple. Oxford University Press. p. 223.
  9. ↑ Garbett, Cyril (1947). The Claims of the Church of England. Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 192ff.
  10. ↑ Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A. (1971). "Church Assembly". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press.
  11. ↑ Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A. (1971). "Synodical Government". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press.
  12. ↑ Sewell, Rob (10 November 2003). "Road to Wigan Pier". In the Cause of Labour: A History of British Trade Unionism . Retrieved 8 June 2024– via In Defence of Marxism.
  13. ↑ Love, Gary (July 2007). "'What's the Big Idea?': Oswald Mosley, the British Union of Fascists and Generic Fascism". Journal of Contemporary History. 42 (3): 450–451. doi:10.1177/0022009407078334. ISSN   0022-0094. S2CID   144884526 – via Sage Journals.
  14. ↑ "Oswald Mosley, Briton, Fascist, European". OswaldMosley.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  15. ↑ Howarth, David (21 February 2006). "Who wants the Abolition of Parliament Bill?". The Times.
  16. ↑ Finkelstein, Daniel (15 February 2006). "How I woke up to a nightmare plot to steal centuries of law and liberty". The Times . London. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
  17. ↑ Cabinet Office (8 November 2006). "Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill receives Royal Assent". Press release CAB066/06. Archived from the original on 11 December 2006.
  18. ↑ Forte, David F. "Essays on Article IV: New States Clause". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  19. ↑ http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Research/Library/Documents/HistDocs/1864Act.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  20. ↑ "Enabling Act".
  21. ↑ "Enabling Act" (PDF). Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  22. ↑ Piecemal Amendment of the Constitution of New Mexico 1911 to 2006 Archived 19 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Seventeenth Revision, January 2007, New Mexico Legislative Council Service
  23. ↑ Crisp (1998:146–7)
  24. ↑ "Historia de Venezuela en Imágenes. Capítulo VIII 1973 /1983. La Gran Venezuela". La experiencia democrática 1958 / 1998 (in Spanish). Fundación Polar. Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  25. ↑ "El tema: Historia democrática venezolana" (in Spanish). Globovisión. 28 November 2006. Archived from the original on 7 February 2007. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  26. ↑ "Ramón José Velásquez Mújica" (in Spanish). Centro de Investigación de Relaciones Internacionales y desarrollo. 21 September 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  27. ↑ Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), Executive decree authority, Cambridge University Press. p150
  28. ↑ Crisp (1998:168)
  29. ↑ "Attorney General's Office admits that Venezuelan government exceeded its authority in enacting Enabling Law". eluniversal.com. 22 July 2004. Archived from the original on 4 April 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  30. ↑ "Venezuela". U.S Department of State. 4 March 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  31. ↑ "Rule by decree passed for Chavez". BBC News. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2007.
  32. ↑ Düvell, Franck (28 March 2017). "Does Turkey's ongoing purge resemble the 1933 Enabling Act in Nazi Germany?". opendemocracy.net. OpenDemocracy. Retrieved 17 April 2017. The constitutional reform in Turkey of 2016 and the conditions under which it is being pushed through recall legal procedures like the Enabling Act 1933 by which the Nazis came to power in Germany in the 1930s. This has been noted by many international and in particular German, Austrian and Swiss media including 'Die Tagesschau', 'Der Standard' and 'Neue Zuricher Zeitung'.
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