A ministerial decree or ministerial order is a

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

by a ministry. With a ministerial decree the administrative department is delegated the task to impose a formal judgement or mandate. Ministerial decrees are usually imposed under the authority of the department's chief minister, secretary or administrator.

Belgium

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, a ministerial decree (, ) is a decision of a minister of the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. The

Belgian Constitution The Constitution of Belgium (; ; ) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the separation of powers. The most recent majo ...

stipulates that the King of Belgium, in practice the federal government as a whole, is responsible for the execution of laws adopted by the federal parliament. This is done by royal order. For more detailed measures, the minister responsible can act alone by ministerial order. Ministerial orders must be published in the

Belgian Official Journal The Belgian official journal (, , ) is the official journal or gazette of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. It is where the official publication of laws, royal decrees, decrees, ordinances, and official notices are published. The publication is h ...

before they can enter into force.

Canada

Asian Long-horned Beetle Regulated Area Notice

In Canada, a ministerial order () is a decision made by a

Minister of the Crown Minister of the Crown is a formal constitutional term used in Commonwealth realms to describe a minister of the reigning sovereign or viceroy. The term indicates that the minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, and advises the sovereign ...

, that does not necessitate the approval of the Cabinet, or the

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

in Council/

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

. The operations surrounding ministerial orders differs between the

and the governments of the

provinces of Canada A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. For instance, in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, ministerial orders are not automatically made public.

Spain

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, a ministerial decree ( Spanish: ''orden ministerial'') is a

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

issued by any of the government ministries. In the legal hierarchy, it sits below a ''Real Decreto del Presidente del Gobierno'' (Royal Decree of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

) and a ''Real Decreto del Consejo de Ministros'' (Royal Decree of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

). Ministerial decrees are produced not only by ministers in affairs relating to their own departments, but also by delegate commissions formed to deal with matters that affect several ministries.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom a ministerial decree is known as a "ministerial order." Until 2013 there was only one example, the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1992.UK Ministerial Orders
Legislation.gov.uk The order was made under powers contained in section 56(2) of the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992, which allowed the Secretary of State to provide for the commencement of the Act "by order". However, presumably due to an oversight in the drafting process, the Act did not provide for such an order to be made by statutory instrument as defined by the

Statutory Instruments Act 1946 The Statutory Instruments Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 36) is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which governs the making of statutory instruments. Until 2011 the act also governed Scottish statutory instruments made under acts of th ...

. No other commencement orders have been made under the relevant powers, and until 2013 this remained the only "ministerial order" in existence. In 2013 the ministerial order became a more common type of legislation, as it was used 27 times that year, under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009; such continued in 2016. In 2015, the Sewerage Undertakers (Information) (Revocation) Direction 2015 was given under section 202 of the Water Industry Act 1991. They are distinct from ministerial directions, which are formal directions to proceed requested by civil servants should a spending proposal fail to meet the criteria for appropriate public spending.

References

{{Reflist Sources of law Decrees