rule by decree

Rule by decree is a style of governance allowing quick, unchallenged promulgation of law by a single person or group of people, usually without legislative approval. While intended to allow rapid responses to a crisis, rule by decree is easily abused and is often a key feature of dictatorships.

When a state of emergency, such as martial law, is in place, rule by decree is common. While rule by decree is easily susceptible to the whims and corruption of the person in power, it is also highly efficient: a law can take weeks or months to pass in a legislature, but can be edited quickly during ruling by decree. This is what makes it valuable in emergency situations. Thus, it is allowed by many constitutions, including the French, Argentine, Indian and Hungarian constitutions.

The expression is also sometimes used when describing actions of democratic governments that are perceived to unduly bypass scrutiny from the legislature or populace.

Prominent historical examples

=Lex Titia and Second Triumvirate=

One of the first examples of rule by decree was in the ancient Roman Republic. After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, his successor Gaius Octavian (Augustus), general Mark Antony and succeeding pontifex maximus Aemilius Lepidus seized power in the Second Triumvirate, officially recognized by the senate by the Lex Titia decree. The resolution, which gave the three 'triumvirs' authoritarian powers for five years, was enacted and reinstated consecutive in 38 BC. It finally collapsed in 33/32 BC, after the downfall of Lepidus, leading to the final Roman Republican civil war and the total collapse of republican government.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Second_Triumvirate/ |title=Second Triumvirate |last=Wasson |first=Donald L. |date=18 April 2016 |website=World History Encyclopedia |access-date=14 April 2017 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414115020/https://www.worldhistory.org/Second_Triumvirate/ |url-status=live }}

=Reichstag Fire Decree of 1933=

The most prominent example in history is the Reichstag Fire Decree in Germany, passed after the Reichstag building caught fire in 1933. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to invoke Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution and issue a decree suspending basic civil rights indefinitely. As a result of this decree, German authorities were able to constitutionally suppress or imprison their opposition, which in turn paved the way for the one-party rule of the Nazi Party.{{cite web |url=https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938/reichstag-fire-decree |title=Reichstag Fire Decree |website=ushmm.org |publisher=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |access-date=14 April 2017 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128110333/https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938/reichstag-fire-decree |url-status=live }} The ensuing state of exception, which suspended the Constitution without formally repealing it, lasted until the end of the Third Reich in 1945.{{cite web |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/ay-e-kad-o-lu/coup-d-tat-attempt-turkey-s-reichstag-fire |title=Coup d'état attempt: Turkey's Reichstag fire? |last=Kadıoğlu |first=Ayşe |date=16 July 2016 |website=opendemocracy.net |access-date=14 April 2017 |archive-date=30 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130073518/https://www.opendemocracy.net/ay-e-kad-o-lu/coup-d-tat-attempt-turkey-s-reichstag-fire |url-status=live }}

=Indian Emergency (1975–1977)=

During the Indian Emergency in 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi pressured the President of India to declare a state of emergency, giving her absolute powers to rule by decree. Using these newfound powers, she nullified a regional court ruling which invalidated Gandhi's election to parliament due to fraud and banned her from participating in elections for six years.{{Cite news |last=Fowle |first=Farnsworth |date=1975-06-27 |title=Verdict on June 12 Provoked the Crisis |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/27/archives/verdict-on-june-12-provoked-the-crisis.html |access-date=2022-05-26 |issn=0362-4331}} After assuming near-dictatorial powers, she arrested thousands of opposition politicians, suspended habeas corpus and clamped down on press freedoms.{{Cite news |title=Past the cliff's edge |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/1975/07/05/past-the-cliffs-edge |access-date=2022-05-26 |issn=0013-0613}} In 1977, she agreed to hold elections again,{{Cite news |date=1977-01-19 |title=MRS. GANDHI, EASING CRISIS RULE, DECIDES ON MARCH ELECTION |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/19/archives/mrs-gandhi-easing-crisis-rule-decides-on-march-election-key.html |access-date=2022-05-26 |issn=0362-4331}} which she lost resoundingly. She subsequently resigned as prime minister and party leader.{{Cite news |last=Times |first=Henry Kamm Special to The New York |date=1977-03-22 |title=MS. GANDHI RESIGNS AS PREMIER AFTER HER PARTY LOSES MAJORITY,• RIVALS GIVE A PLEDGE OF LIBERTIES |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/22/archives/mrs-gandhi-resigns-as-premier-after-her-party-loses-majority-rivals.html |access-date=2022-05-26 |issn=0362-4331}}

=Russian Constitutional Crisis (1993)=

From 23 September[[wikisource:ru:Указ Президента РФ от 21.09.1993 № 1400|

Russian presidential decree №1400]] (in Russian) (given actual effect from 4 October after the armed disbanding of the Supreme Soviet) to 12 December 1993, rule by decree (ukase) was imposed in Russia by President Boris Yeltsin, during transition from the Russian Constitution of 1978 (which was modelled after the obsolete Soviet Constitution of 1977) to the current 1993 Constitution.

=Venezuela (2000–)=

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was granted executive power by the National Assembly to rule by decree multiple times throughout his tenure, passing hundreds of laws. Chávez ruled Venezuela by decree in 2000,{{cite news |date=18 December 2010 |title=Venezuela grants Chavez power to rule by decree |agency=Daily Nation |url=http://www.nation.co.ke/news/world/Venezuela-grants-Chavez-power-to-rule-by-decree-/-/1068/1074822/-/view/printVersion/-/h2nxp5z/-/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512090947/http://www.nation.co.ke/news/world/Venezuela-grants-Chavez-power-to-rule-by-decree-/-/1068/1074822/-/view/printVersion/-/h2nxp5z/-/index.html |archive-date=12 May 2016}} 2001, 2004,{{cite news |last1=Carroll |first1=Rory |date=5 December 2008 |title=A family affair |agency=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/06/chavez-family-venezuela |url-status=live |access-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605104133/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/06/chavez-family-venezuela |archive-date=5 June 2016}} 2005, 2006, 2007,{{cite news |date=19 January 2007 |title=Rule by decree passed for Chavez |agency=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6277379.stm |url-status=live |access-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610235914/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6277379.stm |archive-date=10 June 2016}} 2008, 2010,{{cite news |date=16 July 2013 |title=Hugo Chavez Fast Facts |agency=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/11/world/americas/hugo-chavez---fast-facts/ |url-status=live |access-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505232235/http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/11/world/americas/hugo-chavez---fast-facts |archive-date=5 May 2016}} 2011 and 2012. Between 2004 and 2006 alone, Chávez declared 18 "emergencies" to rule by decree.

Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro, has also ruled by decree multiple times since he was elected in April 2013. President Maduro has ruled Venezuela by decree for the majority of the period from 19 November 2013{{cite news |last1=Diaz-Struck |first1=Emilia |last2=Forero |first2=Juan |date=19 November 2013 |title=Venezuelan president Maduro given power to rule by decree |agency=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelan-president-maduro-given-power-to-rule-by-decree/2013/11/19/af304c3c-516b-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=27 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619003634/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelan-president-maduro-given-power-to-rule-by-decree/2013/11/19/af304c3c-516b-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html |archive-date=19 June 2015}} through 2018.{{cite news |date=16 March 2015 |title=Venezuela: President Maduro granted power to govern by decree |agency=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31899510 |url-status=live |access-date=27 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112211132/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31899510 |archive-date=12 January 2017}}{{Cite news |last=Brodzinsky |first=Sibylla |date=15 January 2016 |title=Venezuela president declares economic emergency as inflation hits 141% |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/16/venezuela-president-declares-economic-emergency-as-inflation-hits-141 |url-status=live |access-date=24 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160227101831/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/16/venezuela-president-declares-economic-emergency-as-inflation-hits-141 |archive-date=27 February 2016 |issn=0261-3077}}{{cite news |last1=Worely |first1=Will |date=18 March 2016 |title=Venezuela is going to shut down for a whole week because of an energy crisis |agency=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-is-going-to-shut-down-for-a-whole-week-because-of-an-energy-crisis-a6939246.html |url-status=live |access-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525075026/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-is-going-to-shut-down-for-a-whole-week-because-of-an-energy-crisis-a6939246.html |archive-date=25 May 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Kraul |first1=Chris |date=17 May 2017 |title=Human rights activists say many Venezuelan protesters face abusive government treatment |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-venezuela-contreras-20170517-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521130420/http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-venezuela-contreras-20170517-story.html |archive-date=21 May 2017}}{{cite news |date=18 July 2017 |title=Gobierno extiende por décima vez el decreto de emergencia económica |language=es-ES |work=La Patilla |url=https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2017/07/18/gobierno-extiende-por-decima-vez-el-decreto-de-emergencia-economica/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718170727/https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2017/07/18/gobierno-extiende-por-decima-vez-el-decreto-de-emergencia-economica/ |archive-date=18 July 2017}}

=United States of America (2025–)=

Legal situation

Some democracies, such as Mexico,{{Cite journal |last=Eugenio |first=Velasco |date=16 April 2020 |title=Mexico: Emergency Powers and COVID-19 |url=https://verfassungsblog.de/mexico-emergency-powers-and-covid-19/ |access-date=2022-05-26 |journal=Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional |doi=10.17176/20200416-092144-0 |language=en}} France and Argentina, permit presidential rule by decree in time of a national emergency, subject to constitutional and other legal limitations.{{cn|date=February 2019}} In France, this power has been used only once, by Charles de Gaulle in 1961 during the Algerian War.{{cite web |url=http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/history/france/france/20th/1958.htm |title=France in 1958 |date=22 June 2016 |website=robinsonlibrary.com |publisher=The Robinson Library |access-date=14 April 2017 |archive-date=10 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510051641/http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/history/france/france/20th/1958.htm |url-status=usurped }}

Other modern political concepts, such as the French decrees, Orders in Council in the British Commonwealth, and executive orders in the United States are partially based on this notion of decrees, although they are far more limited in scope and generally subject to judicial review.

Ireland's Emergency Powers Act allows the government to rule by decrees called Emergency Powers Orders in any aspect of national life, if the parliament invokes the emergency clause in Article 28(3) of the Constitution. The Act however allows the Dáil Éireann to void specific EPOs in a free vote or end the state of emergency at any time.{{cite web |date=3 September 1939 |title=Emergency Powers Act, 1939 |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1939/act/28/enacted/en/print.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921000820/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1939/act/28/enacted/en/print.html |archive-date=21 September 2017 |access-date=14 April 2017 |website=irishstatutebook.ie}}

Some legal scholars have argued that in the United States, Donald Trump's extensive use of executive orders during his first term (2017–2020) as president and more prominently during his second term (2025–), bypassing the United States Congress to enact budgetary and personnel changes, amounts to rule by decree.{{cite web| url=https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-debate/20250219-rule-by-decree-trump-s-executive-orders-and-the-future-of-us-democracy|title=Rule by decree? Trump's executive orders and the future of US democracy}}{{cite web| title=Trump is creating an imperial presidency — and he’s doing it by decree| url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-02-03/column-trump-is-creating-an-imperial-presidency-and-hes-doing-it-by-decree}}{{cite web| url=https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5130576-trump-imperial-presidency-threat/| title=Who will stand up to Trump’s un-American rule by decree?}}

Giorgio Agamben's critique of the use of decrees-law

Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben has claimed that there has been an explosion in the use of various types of decrees (decree-law, presidential decrees, executive orders, etc.) since World War I. According to him, this is the sign of a "generalization of the state of exception".{{Cite book |last=Agamben |first=Giorgio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9slkvuV3VS4C |title=State of Exception |date=2008-07-18 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-00926-1 |language=en}}