Ordonnance

Under the French Government, an ordonnance (French for "ordinance") is a statutory instrument issued by the Council of Ministers in an area of law normally reserved for primary legislation enacted by the French Parliament.

They should not be confused with executive orders (Fr. décrets), be they a presidential order or an order-in-council, or ministerial orders (Fr. arrêtés), issued either in matters where the Constitution allows primary legislation from the Council, or usually as delegated legislation supplementing a statute.

In the French justice system, the word can also refer to a summary ruling made by a single judge for simple cases.

Article 34 of the Constitution of France restricts certain legal matters to primary legislation to be enacted by Parliament. All other areas of law fall within the domain of delegated legislation in the form of orders-in-council (OIC) issued by the Prime Minister or ministerial orders issued by individual cabinet ministers.

Orders-in-council and other delegated legislation issued in areas reserved for primary legislation are illegal, unless they are specifically authorized by statute. Such orders define implementation measures and details left out by the originating statute.

For various reasons explained below, the Executive may sometimes want to pass primary legislation in a field reserved by statute. The ordonnances are the constitutional means to do so.

Delegated legislation can be repealed through litigation before the Council of State (acting in their role of legislative review) if they violate general legal principles or constitutional rights, whereas primary legislation may be ruled unconstitutional only through judicial review before the Constitutional Council. Statutes are thus relatively more solid.

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