Ordonnance

In the Government of France, an ordonnance (French for "ordinance") is a statute passed by the Council of Ministers in an area of law normally reserved for statute law passed by the Parliament of France.

They should not be confused with decrees, which are executive decisions passed either in fields where the Constitution allows primary legislation from the Council, or secondary 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.

Current usage

Motivations

Article 34 of the Constitution of France lists a number of areas of Law that are reserved for statute law, passed by Parliament. All other areas of Law are the domain of regulations, issued by the Government through decrees of the Prime Minister.

Decrees and other regulations taken in areas reserved for statute law are illegal, unless they are secondary legislation specifically authorized by Law. Such "application decrees" define implementation measures and details left out by statute law.