Royal Legislative Decree (Spain)

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A Royal Legislative Decree is a legal rule having the force of a law in the Spanish legal system. The name of "Royal" is given because it has state rank and it is the King 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, it receives the name of "Legislative Decree" because the King only sanctions the Decrees of the central government (the autonomous community Legislative Decree is sanctioned by the President of the Autonomous Community in the name of the King [1] ).

Law system of rules and guidelines, generally backed by governmental authority

Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. It has been defined both as "the Science of Justice" and "the Art of Justice". Law is a system that regulates and ensures that individuals or a community adhere to the will of the state. State-enforced laws can be made by a collective legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes, by the executive through decrees and regulations, or established by judges through precedent, normally in common law jurisdictions. Private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people.

Spain Kingdom in Southwest Europe

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.

Autonomous communities of Spain first-level political and administrative division of Spain

In Spain, an autonomous community is a first-level political and administrative division, created in accordance with the Spanish constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy of the nationalities and regions that make up Spain.

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Requirements to use the Royal Legislative Decree

In order to delegate the legislative capacity of Parliament to the Government, Parliament must make a law (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 and will become part of the legal system with full rights.

Cortes Generales legislature of Chueca

The Cortes Generales are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of two chambers: the Congress of Deputies and the Senate. The members of the Cortes are the representatives of the Spanish people.

Government of Spain executive authority of Spain

The Government of Spain is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. It is also commonly referred to as the Government of the Nation, or simply the Government.

The law of delegation can take two forms:

Limits of the Royal Legislative Decree

According to the Spanish Constitution, there are 3 limits to the application of the Decree-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.

Judicial control

According to the Constitution, the Constitutional Court 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, 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 and expel it from the legal system.

Constitutional Court of Spain

The Constitutional Court of Spain is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local. It is defined in Part IX of the Constitution of Spain, and further governed by Organic Laws 2/1979, 8/1984, 4/1985, 6/1988, 7/1999 and 1/2000. The court is the "supreme interpreter" of the Constitution, but since the court is not a part of the Spanish Judiciary, the Supreme Court is the highest court for all judicial matters.

Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or guidelines set forth in the applicable constitution. When one of these directly violates the constitution, it is unconstitutional. All the rest are considered constitutional until challenged and declared otherwise, typically by courts through judicial review.

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.

See also

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A Royal Decree-Law is a legal rule having the force of a law in the Spanish legal system. The name of "Royal" is given because it has state rank and it is the King who is responsible for sanctioning and ordering the publication and compliance of the rule. However, when the rule is created by an autonomous government, it receives the name of "Decree-Law" because the King only sanctions the Decrees of the central government.

References

Most of the information is taken from the Spanish Constitution of 1978.