An ordinary law is a normal

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, generally distinguished from a

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

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. By country France Under Article 46 of the Constitutio ...

, or other similar law. Typically, ordinary laws are subordinate to constitutional and organic laws, and are more easily changed than constitutional or organic laws, though that should not be assumed to be the case in all jurisdictions. (For example, the

Constitutional Court of Spain The Constitutional Court () 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 in Spain. It is defined in Part I ...

has ruled that Spain's Organic Laws are not hierarchically superior to ordinary laws, but simply apply to different matters.Sentencia de 13 de febrero de 1981, Tribunal Constitucional de España) Ordinary laws often govern areas beyond the scope of constitutional or organic laws. Normally, in a democracy, an ordinary law must first obtain a simple majority of a

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 ...

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 ...

, or other legislature, and then be signed into law by the representative of

executive power The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

. The process leading to a legislative vote may vary vastly from one jurisdiction to another: the process may be initiated by either house of a

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...

or from the sole house of a

unicameral legislature Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

; from the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

; or by popular

initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...

. Different jurisdictions may allow ordinary laws to be proposed by one or all of these means, and may have restrictions on which body may take the initiative for certain types of laws (for example, in some bicameral systems, tax-related laws must begin in the lower chamber of the legislature). In some jurisdictions, the legislature has a means to override an executive

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

by a

supermajority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...

, or the voting populace have the means to override a law by a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

. Under federal systems, ordinary laws may be created at the level of a

sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

but also by its constituent components: for example, by

states of the United States The United States, United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 U.S. state, states, a Capital districts and territories#United States, federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major ...

autonomous communities The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Spa ...

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 ...

. An ordinary law needs to be passed by the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

Notes

Law by type Law of Spain Legislative legal terminology Spanish legal terminology {{legal-term-stub