Aministerial decree orministerial order is adecree by aministry. With a ministerial decree the administrative department is delegated the task to impose a formal judgement or mandate. Ministerial decrees are usually imposed under the authority of the department's chief minister, secretary or administrator.
InBelgium, a ministerial decree (Dutch:ministerieel besluit,French:arrêté ministériel) is a decision of a minister of thefederal government. TheBelgian Constitution stipulates that theKing of Belgium, in practice the federal government as a whole, is responsible for the execution of laws adopted by the federal parliament. This is done byroyal order. For more detailed measures, the minister responsible can act alone by ministerial order. Ministerial orders must be published in theBelgian Official Journal before they can enter into force.
In Canada, a ministerial order (French:arrêté ministériel) is a decision made by aMinister of the Crown, that does not necessitate the approval of the Cabinet, or theLieutenant Governor in Council/Governor General of Canada.[1] The operations surrounding ministerial orders differs between thefederal government and the governments of theprovinces of Canada. For instance, inAlberta, ministerial orders are not automatically made public.[1]
InSpain, a ministerial decree (Spanish:orden ministerial) is aregulation issued by any of the government ministries. In the legal hierarchy, it sits below aReal Decreto del Presidente del Gobierno (Royal Decree of thePrime Minister) and aReal Decreto del Consejo de Ministros (Royal Decree of theCouncil of Ministers). Ministerial decrees are produced not only by ministers in affairs relating to their own departments, but also by delegate commissions formed to deal with matters that affect several ministries.
In the United Kingdom a ministerial decree is known as a "ministerial order." Until 2013 there was only one example, the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1992.[2][3]
The order was made under powers contained in section 56(2) of theCompetition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992, which allowed the Secretary of State to provide for the commencement of theAct "by order". However, presumably due to an oversight in the drafting process, the Act did not provide for such an order to be made bystatutory instrument as defined by theStatutory Instruments Act 1946.[3] No other commencement orders have been made under the relevant powers, and until 2013 this remained the only "ministerial order" in existence.[3]
In 2013 the ministerial order became a more common type of legislation, as it was used 27 times that year, under theMarine and Coastal Access Act 2009; such continued in 2016.[2] In 2015, the Sewerage Undertakers (Information) (Revocation) Direction 2015[4] was given under section 202 of theWater Industry Act 1991.
They are distinct fromministerial directions, which are formal directions to proceed requested by civil servants should a spending proposal fail to meet the criteria for appropriate public spending.