Afederal decree (German:Bundesbeschluss;French:Arrêté fédéral,Italian:Decreto Federale) is an act that can be adopted by theSwissFederal Assembly in application of a federal law, insofar as the text does not contain rules of law (art. 163 para. 2),[1] meaning that it can only be a decision on the application of general and abstract norms laid down in the law.[2]
The Federal Constitution of 1874 (art. 89 para. 2) introduced the possibility of adopting a federal decree of general application.[3] The difference with an ordinary federal law lies in the "emergency clause" and the limited duration of the decree.[3]
The 1999 Federal Constitution confirmed this configuration, even though the form of a federal law may also be used.[3] The difference lies in thefacultative referendum (German:fakultatives Referendum;French:référendum facultatif,Italian:referendum facoltativo,Romansh:referendum facultativ). In the case of a decree, a referendum is only possible if provided for in the Constitution or by law (art. 141 para. 1 let. c);[4][3][2] this is referred to as an administrative referendum.[2] Furthermore, it is not covered by the rule laid down in article 189 of theConstitution concerning an appeal to theFederal Supreme Court.[5]
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