Organic Law (Spain)

Organic laws ( leyes orgánicas ) are in accordance with Article 81 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 laws that regulate certain matters enumerated in this Constitution shall apply to the provision and therefore in the legislative process unique features compared to the " ordinary " laws ( leyes ordinarias ). This is a new to 1978 for the Spanish constitutional history concept that is modeled on the loi organique the French Constitution of 1958.

Article 81 of the Constitution

Article 81 of the Constitution reads:

Special features in the legislative process

For ordinary laws Article 90 of the Constitution determines the following legislative procedure:

The Bills are decided first by the Chamber of Deputies ( Congreso de los Deputies ) and then forwarded to the Senate ( Senado ). This may appeal within two months either by an absolute majority a veto by a simple majority, or make amendments to which the House will deal again. A veto may overrule this with an absolute majority, after the expiration of two months after notice is sufficient for this purpose even a simple majority. Amendments proposed by the Senate may be adopted by a simple majority, or lost. Thus the law is established, be referred again to the Senate will not take place.

Article 81 paragraph 2 of the Constitution makes for organic laws following features with them:

• At the end of the first referral to the House of Representatives for a vote on the bill as a whole must be made ( such as when significant individual amendments were approved ), in which an absolute majority must be achieved. (Article 131 of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies )
• The Senate vetoes, this must be overridden by the House of Representatives by an absolute majority, the possibility of tuning over deleted by a simple majority after two months. (Art. 132 No. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies )
• If the House amendments to the Senate (for which a simple majority is sufficient ), the resulting overall design must be put to a final vote again, and again the absolute majority must be achieved. If this is not achieved, the design originally adopted by the House of Representatives is adopted and the amendments of the Senate are rejected. (Art. 132 No. 2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies )

In addition, to be regulated by organic law matters not the subject of a referendum (Art. 87 para 3 of the Constitution ).

By organic law matters to be regulated

Development of fundamental rights and public freedoms

The Spanish Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional ) sets consistently held both the criterion of " fundamental rights and public freedoms " and "development" restrictive of:

• Under the " fundamental rights and public freedoms " covered only the normalized in Articles 15 to 29 of the Constitution fundamental rights, but not the general principle of equality (Article 14) and the so-called fundamental rights "second class" (Art. 30-38 ) and " third class " (Art. 39-52 ).
• The organic law requiring " development " of such a fundamental right exists only if this

• General or controlled in material respects

• Or is restricted.

While the fundamental rights " second and third class " simply by law are regularly and restrictable, so the basic rights of Article 15-29 are placed under the special title by an organic law by Article 81.

Acceptance of the autonomy statutes

By accepting the autonomy statutes the 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain constituted themselves in the time between 1979 and 1983 (regions). For the legislative procedures under Article 146 and 151 of the Constitution, although specifics, but it remains with the characteristic of organic laws prerequisite of adoption by an absolute majority of the House of Representatives.

The Statute of Autonomy has a double nature: it is a state organic law, on the other hand, the " basic institutional rule of law " of the Autonomous Community (Art. 147). In this respect the autonomy statutes in function with the German state constitutions are similar, but they differ from them in that they are part of the ( central ) state legal and the Central Parliament is involved decisive in their preparation, which is why the Autonomous Communities also no states are.

In particular, the autonomy statutes governing the division of powers between the State and the Autonomous Community.

Principles of electoral law

The principles of electoral law were by the electoral law (Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General - LOREG ) normalized. This regulates comprehensively and finally the choice of law applicable to the choice of the Cortes Generales, the Spanish MEPs and the representative bodies of municipalities and provinces ( active and passive voting rights, electoral system, candidate selection, election and scrutiny procedure ). For the election of the parliaments of the Autonomous Communities, it is framework law, in particular the definition of the electoral system is left to the Autonomous Communities itself.

Other cases for which the Constitution provides for regulation by organic law

For the following additional matters, the Constitution provides in various regulations, the regulation by organic law before (with example):

• Principles of military organization (Art. 8)

• Institution of the Ombudsman ( Defensor del Pueblo ) (Art. 54)

• Suspension of certain basic rights in relation to " armed gangs " and "terrorist elements " (Art. 55)

• Abdication and clarification of doubts about the throne (Article 57)
• Direct election of senators ( Article 69 )

• Control of the referendum ( Iniciativa popular ) for proposals for legislation (Art. 87)

• Control of the referendum ( referendum ) (Art. 92)

• Transfer of sovereign powers to international organizations ( Art. 93)

• Determining the functions, principles of action and statutes of the Police Forces ( Fuerzas y Cuerpos de seguridad ) (Art. 104)

• Composition and powers of the Council of State ( Consejo de Estado ) as an advisory body to the Government (Article 107)

• Control of the alarm, exception and martial law ( estados de alarma de Excepción y de sitio ) (Art. 116)

• Court system, regulating the legal status of judges and personnel of the Administration of Justice (Article 122 )

• Statute and responsibilities of the " General Council of the Judicial Power " ( Consejo General del Poder Judicial ) as self-governing body of the judiciary and method of determining the twelve members of this body who are not proposed by the House and the Senate (Art. 122)

• Establishing maximum structural deficit of public budgets and detailed design of the " debt brake " (Art. 135)

• Composition, organization and functions of the Court ( Court of Audit ) (Art. 136)

• Change in the province borders (Art. 141)
• Authorize education uniprovinzialer Autonomous Communities that are not the requirements of Article 143, paragraph 1 (stand-alone historical regional significance ) and independence (article 144)

• Authorization or approval of an autonomy status for not in the province of outline integrated areas (Art. 144)

• Replacement by virtue of Article 143, paragraph 1 of the provinces and municipalities incumbent upon initiation of the autonomy process by the State (Art. 144)

• Change in the autonomy statutes (Art. 147)

• Coordination and other skills of the Autonomous Communities in relation to the communal police (Art. 148)

• Framework legislation on the police forces of the Autonomous Communities ( Article 149 )

• Transfer and delegation of state powers to the Autonomous Communities (Article 150 )

• Control of the referendum under Article 151 (Art. 151)

• Conditions under which a statute of autonomy can be formed under Article 151 in rejecting individual provinces in the popular vote by the remaining provinces (Art. 151)

• Financing of the Autonomous Communities (Article 157)

• Competences of the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional ) (Art. 161)

• Bring proceedings before the Constitutional Court (Art. 162)

• Proceedings before the Constitutional Court, the status of its members (Art. 165)

Rank of the organic laws in the hierarchy of norms

According to the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court are organic laws and ordinary laws in the hierarchy of the same rank, ie Therefore, an ordinary law is not alone void because it contradicts established by an organic law.

However, the to be regulated by an organic law matters for regulation by ordinary law on Article 28, paragraph 2 of the Constitutional Court Act (Ley Orgánica 2/1979, de 3 de octubre, del Tribunal Constitucional - LOTC ) protected: After the Constitutional Court may, by means the abstract ( recurso de inconstitucionalidad ) and concrete norm control ( cuestión de inconstitucionalidad ) the provisions of ordinary law to be unconstitutional and therefore null and void declare that would be governed by an organic law should be.