We explain what a decree is, its elements, who issues it, the types that exist and other characteristics. Also, differences with a law.
What is a decree?
A decree is a type of administrative act, of generally regulatory content, which comes from the decision of an authority in a matter within its competence, and therefore imposed vertically.
In other words, it is a decision, provision or command coming from a can constituted, which must be complied with within the terms in which the laws established in the National Constitution.
The word decree comes from Latin decretum, and it was a common term in societies feudal or aristocratic, where the monarch's word had the rank of law. For example, a royal decree or royal cedula were enabling documents to carry out certain trades or take over certain assets in colonial America, when it was politically and economically controlled since Europe.
On the other hand, decrees can contain general (decision) or individual (provision) elements. Depending on it, they will lay down the rules for the right general (abstract, impersonal) or rules individuals (decrees).
Generally, decrees come in a democracy of executive power, and are subject to review by the other powers, in accordance with what is established in the Law.
Difference between decree and law
Unlike decrees, laws require prior debate.To begin with, decrees usually come from the executive power (not exclusively), while laws are the result of the legislation. The decrees are born from a certain sense of necessity and urgency, while the latter from consensus and debate.
Although there are decrees that have the character of law (Decree-Law), in general no decree can contravene constitutional laws, or at least not without first having been granted some type of special power to the executive by the legislative, being endorsed by the power of attorney.
Therefore, for a decree to acquire the rank of law and its compliance to be mandatory, it must be ratified by the legislature, and that this power is in charge of the management of the laws of a nation.
Then: the laws are the norms of obligatory compliance according to the social pact itself, that is, they are the norms of the Condition to work in all situations. The decrees, on the other hand, are specific decisions that are taken to face a certain problem and that may or may not reach the rank of law.
Decree types
The decrees are classified according to their content and their relationship of conformity or discord with the laws, as follows:
- When a decree creates legal norms general, which apply to different cases equally, we are in the presence of a regulation.
- When, on the contrary, it gives rise to individual norms that apply to a specific occasion, we are in the presence of simple decrees or individual administrative acts.
- When a decree modifies a law permanently, we are in the presence of a decree-law.