De facto

For other uses, see De facto (disambiguation). legally had to attend, despite in many cases actually living
“Defacto” redirects here. For the steamship, see SS closer to a school designated for the other race. In many
Defacto. cases, the schools for black students were older, had fewer
resources of all kinds, and paid their teachers less than in
[1] white schools.
De facto (/dɨ ˈfæktoʊ/, /deɪ-/, Latin: [deː ˈfaktoː]) is a
Latin expression that means “in fact, in reality, in actual
existence, force, or possession, as a matter of fact” (liter-
ally “from fact”).[2][3] In law, it often means “in practice
but not necessarily ordained by law” or “in practice or 1.2 Standards
actuality, but not officially established.” It is commonly
used in contrast to de jure (which means “according to Main article: De facto standard
(the) law"; literally “from law”) when referring to mat-
ters of law, governance, or technique (such as standards) A de facto standard is a standard (formal or informal)
that are found in the common experience as created or that has achieved a dominant position by tradition, en-
developed without or contrary to a regulation. When dis- forcement, or market dominance. It has not necessarily
cussing a legal situation, de jure designates what the law received formal approval by way of a standardization pro-
says, while de facto designates action of what happens in cess, and may not have an official standards document.
practice.
Technical standards are usually voluntary, like ISO 9000
requirements, but may be obligatory, enforced by gov-
ernment norms, like drinking water quality requirements.
1 Examples The term “de facto standard” is used for both: to contrast
obligatory standards (also known as “de jure standards”);
or to express a dominant standard, when there are more
1.1 Segregation (during the Civil Rights than one proposed standards.
era in the United States)
In social sciences, a voluntary standard that is also a de
De facto racial discrimination and segregation in the USA facto[7]standard, is a typical solution to a coordination prob-
during the 1950s and 1960s was simply discrimination lem.
that was not segregation by law (de jure).
Jim Crow Laws, which were enacted in the 1870s,
brought legal racial segregation against black Americans 1.3 National languages
residing in the American South. These laws were legally
ended in 1964 by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[4][5][6] Several countries with a de facto national language, in-
Continued practices of expecting blacks to ride in the cluding Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United
back of buses or to step aside onto the street if not enough States, and the Argentine, have no de jure official national
room was present for a white person and "separate but language.
equal" facilities are instances of de facto segregation. The Some countries have a de facto national language in ad-
NAACP fought for the de jure law to be upheld and for dition to an official language. In Lebanon and Morocco
de facto segregation practices to be abolished. the official language is Arabic, but an additional de facto
Public schools in any region of the USA may be de facto language is French. In New Zealand, Maori and New
racially segregated (or nearly so) simply because they are Zealand Sign Language are de jure official languages,
in neighborhoods whose residents are all, or nearly all, while English is a de facto official language.
of one race (such as urban ghettos or conversely, affluent Russian was the de facto official language of the cen-
suburbs). tral government and, to a large extent, republican govern-
This is opposed to de jure segregation, which prevailed in ments of the former Soviet Union, but was not declared
the American South and border states through the 1960s. de jure state language until 1990. A short-lived law ef-
Under de jure segregation, the law provided entirely sep- fected April 24, 1990, installed Russian as the sole de
arate schools for black and white students, which they jure official language of the Union.[8]

1
2 1 EXAMPLES

1.4 Politics acts, were to assume the powers foreseen

for the authorities of this Constitution or
A de facto government is a government wherein all the for those of the provinces, shall be pun-
attributes of sovereignty have, by usurpation, been trans- ished with the same penalties and shall be
ferred from those who had been legally invested with civil and criminally liable for their acts.
them to others, who, sustained by a power above the The respective actions shall not be sub-
forms of law, claim to act and do really act in their ject to prescription.
stead.[9] • (4) All citizens shall have the right to op-
In politics, a de facto leader of a country or region is pose resistance to those committing the
one who has assumed authority, regardless of whether acts of force stated in this section.
by lawful, constitutional, or legitimate means; very fre- • (5) He who, procuring personal enrich-
quently, the term is reserved for those whose power is ment, incurs in serious fraudulent offense
thought by some faction to be held by unlawful, unconsti- against the Nation shall also attempt sub-
tutional, or otherwise illegitimate means, often because it version against the democratic system,
had deposed a previous leader or undermined the rule of and shall be disqualified to hold public of-
a current one. De facto leaders sometimes do not hold a fice for the term specified by law.
constitutional office and may exercise power informally. • (6) Congress shall enact a law on pub-
Not all dictators are de facto rulers. For example, lic ethics which shall rule the exercise of
Augusto Pinochet of Chile initially came to power as the public office.
chairperson of a military junta, which briefly made him
de facto leader of Chile, but he later amended the nation’s In 1526, after seizing power Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim
constitution and made himself president for life, mak- al-Ghazi made his brother, Umar Din, the de jure Sultan
ing him the formal and legal ruler of Chile. Similarly, of the Adal Sultanate. Ahmad, however, was in all
Saddam Hussein's formal rule of Iraq is often recorded practice the de facto Sultan.[10] Some other notable
as beginning in 1979, the year he assumed the Presidency true de facto leaders have been Deng Xiaoping of the
of Iraq. However, his de facto rule of the nation began People’s Republic of China and General Manuel Nor-
earlier: during his time as vice president, he exercised a iega of Panama. Both of these men exercised nearly
great deal of power at the expense of the elderly Ahmed all control over their respective nations for many years
Hassan al-Bakr, the de jure president. despite not having either legal constitutional office or
the legal authority to exercise power. These individ-
In Argentina, the successive military coups that over-
uals are today commonly recorded as the “leaders” of
threw constitutional governments installed de facto gov-
their respective nations; recording their legal, correct ti-
ernments in 1930, 1943–1945, 1955–1958, 1966–1973
tle would not give an accurate assessment of their power.
and 1976–1983, the last of which combined the pow-
Terms like strongman or dictator are often used to refer
ers of the presidential office with those of the National
to de facto rulers of this sort. In the Soviet Union, af-
Congress. The subsequent legal analysis of the validity
ter Vladimir Lenin incapacitated from a stroke in 1923,
of such actions led to the formulation of a doctrine of the
Joseph Stalin—who, as General Secretary of the Com-
de facto governments, a case law (precedential) formu-
munist Party had the power to appoint anyone he chose to
lation which essentially said that the actions and decrees
top party positions—eventually emerged as leader of the
of past de facto governments, although not rooted in legal
Party and the legitimate government. Until the 1936 So-
legitimacy when taken, remained binding until and unless
viet Constitution officially declared the Party "...the van-
such time as they were revoked or repealed de jure by a
guard of the working people”, thus legitimizing Stalin’s
subsequent legitimate government.
leadership, Stalin ruled the USSR as the de facto dicta-
That doctrine was nullified by the constitutional reform tor.
of 1994. Article 36 states:
Another example of a de facto ruler is someone who is not
the actual ruler but exerts great or total influence over the
• (1) This Constitution shall rule even true ruler, which is quite common in monarchies. Some
when its observance is interrupted by acts examples of these de facto rulers are Empress Dowager
of force against the institutional order and Cixi of China (for son Tongzhi and nephew Guangxu
the democratic system. These acts shall Emperors), Prince Alexander Menshikov (for his former
be irreparably null. lover Empress Catherine I of Russia), Cardinal Richelieu
• (2) Their authors shall be punished with of France (for Louis XIII), and Queen Marie Caroline of
the penalty foreseen in Section 29, dis- Naples and Sicily (for her husband King Ferdinand I of
qualified in perpetuity from holding pub- the Two Sicilies).
lic offices and excluded from the benefits The term de facto head of state is sometimes used
of pardon and commutation of sentences. to describe the office of a governor general in the
• (3) Those who, as a consequence of these Commonwealth realms, since a holder of that office has
2.2 Relationships not recognized outside of Australia 3

the same responsibilities in their country as the de jure 2.2 Relationships not recognized outside
head of state (the sovereign) does within the United King- of Australia
dom.
In the Westminster system of government, executive au- Due to Australian federalism, de facto partnerships can
thority is often split between a de jure executive author- only be legally recognised whilst the couple lives within
ity of a head of state and a de facto executive author- a state in Australia. This is because the power to legis-
ity of a prime minister and cabinet who implement ex- late on de facto matters relies on referrals by States to the
ecutive powers in the name of the de jure executive au- Commonwealth in accordance with Section 51(xxxvii) of
thority. In the United Kingdom, the Sovereign is the de the Australian Constitution, where it states the new fed-
[12][13]
jure executive authority, even though executive decisions eral law can only be applied back within a state.
are made by the elected Prime Minister and his Cabinet There must be a state nexus between the de facto rela-
[14]
on the Sovereign’s behalf, hence the term Her Majesty’s tionship itself and the Australian state.
Government. If an Australian de facto couple moves out of a state, they
The de facto boundaries of a country are defined by the do not take the state with them and the new federal law
area that its government is actually able to enforce its laws is tied to the territorial limits of a state. The legal status
in, and to defend against encroachments by other coun- and rights and obligations of the de facto or unmarried
tries that may also claim the same territory de jure. The couple would then be recognised by the laws of the coun-
Durand Line is an example of a de facto boundary. As try where they are ordinarily resident. See the section
well as cases of border disputes, de facto boundaries may on Family Court of Australia for further explanation on
also arise in relatively unpopulated areas in which the bor- jurisdiction on de facto relationships.
der was never formally established or in which the agreed This is unlike marriage and ‘matrimonial causes’ which
border was never surveyed and its exact position is un- are recognised by sections 51(xxi) and (xxii) of the
clear. The same concepts may also apply to a boundary Australian Constitution and internationally by Marriage
between provinces or other subdivisions of a federal state. law and conventions, Hague Convention on Marriages
(1978).[15]

2 Other uses 2.3 Non-marital relationship contract

A de facto monopoly is a system where many suppliers De Facto [Relationship] is comparable to non-marital re-
of a product are allowed, but the market is so completely lationship contracts (sometimes called “Palimony Agree-
dominated by one that the others might as well not exist. ments”) and certain limited forms of domestic partner-
The related terms oligopoly and monopsony are similar ship, which are found in many jurisdictions throughout
in meaning and this is the type of situation that antitrust the world.
laws are intended to eliminate. A “De Facto Relationship” is not comparable to common-
law marriage, which is a fully legal marriage that has
merely been contracted in an irregular way (including by
2.1 Relationships habit and repute). Only nine U.S. states and the District
of Columbia still permit this irregular form of marriage;
A domestic partner outside marriage is referred to as a de but common law marriages are otherwise valid and recog-
facto husband or wife by some authorities.[11] In Australia nised by and in all jurisdictions whose rules of comity
and New Zealand, the phrase de facto by itself has be- mandate the recognition of any marriage that was legally
come a colloquial term for one’s domestic partner. In formed in the jurisdiction where it was contracted.
Australian law, it is the legally recognized relationship of
a couple living together (opposite-sex or same-sex).
The above sense of de facto is related to the relationship 3 Other uses of the term
between common law traditions and formal (statutory,
regulatory, civil) law, and common-law marriages. Com- In finance, the World Bank has a pertinent definition:
mon law norms for settling disputes in practical situations,
often worked out over many generations to establishing A “de facto government” comes into, or re-
precedent, are a core element informing decision mak- mains in, power by means not provided for in
ing in legal systems around the world. Because its early the country’s constitution, such as a coup d'état,
forms originated in England in the Middle Ages, this is revolution, usurpation, abrogation or suspen-
particularly true in Anglo-American legal traditions and sion of the constitution.[16]
in former colonies of the British Empire, while also play-
ing a role in some countries that have mixed systems with A de facto state of war is a situation where two nations are
significant admixtures of civil law. actively engaging, or are engaged, in aggressive military
4 5 REFERENCES

actions against the other without a formal declaration of [16] “OP 7.30 – Dealings with De Facto Governments”. Oper-
war. ational Manual. The World Bank. July 2001. Retrieved
2010-11-28.
In engineering, a de facto technology refers to systems in
which the intellectual property and know-how is privately
held. Usually only the owner of the technology manu-
factures the related equipment. Meanwhile, a standard
technology consists of systems that have been publicly re-
leased to a certain degree so that anybody can manufac-
ture equipment supporting the technology. For instance,
in cell phone communications, CDMA1X is a de facto
technology, while GSM is a standard technology.

4 See also
• List of Latin phrases

5 References
[1] dictionary.reference.com: de facto

[2] See I. 3. “de”. Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Ox-

ford University Press. 1989.

[3] Harper, Douglas. “de facto”. Online Etymology Dictio-

nary.

[4] Civil Rights Act of 1964

[5] Woodward, C. Vann; McFeely, William S. (2001). The

Strange Career of Jim Crow. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press. p. 7. ISBN 0-19-514689-1.

[6] King, Desmond (1995). Separate and Unequal: Black

Americans and the US Federal Government. New York:
Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-19-828016-5.

[7] Edna Ullmann-Margalit: The Emergence of Norms, Ox-

ford Un. Press, 1977. (or Clarendon Press 1978)

[8] “USSR Law “On the Languages of the Peoples of USSR""

(in Russian). April 24, 1990.

[9] 30 Am Jur 181. Law Dictionary, James A. Ballentine,

Second Edition, 1948, p. 345.

[10] “Aḥmad Grāñ". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved

2014-05-04.

[11] Walker Lenore E. “Battered Woman Syndrome. Empir-

ical Findings.” Violence and Exploitation Against Women
and Girls, November 2006, p. 142.

[12] French, Justice (Feb 2003). “The Referral of State Powers

Cooperative Federalism lives?". Western Australia Law
Review..

[13] Thomas (2007) 233 CLR 307, [208] (Kirby J).

[14] See sections 90RG,90SD and 90SK, section 90RA, of the

Family Law Act.

[15] Hague Convention on Marriages 1978

 5

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