Necessity and Urgency Decree
Encyclopedia
A Necessity and Urgency Decree (Spanish: Decreto de necesidad y urgencia, also known as DNU) is a special kind of order issued by the President
of Argentina. Unlike regular decrees, which are used in Argentina for rulemaking
, a DNU has the force of law. Once the President promulgates a DNU, the National Congress
must examine it to determine if it keeps enforced or not.
since 1994. As its name indicates, a Necessity and Urgency Decree should be used only under exceptional situations, when it is not possible to follow the normal procedure to create laws in the Congress. In addition, the President cannot sanction DNU's legislating about criminal, tributary or electoral matters.
As it happens with regular decrees, Necessity and Urgency Decrees are promulgated by the President, but in General Agreement of Ministers (Spanish: Acuerdo general de ministros). It means that all Ministers and the Chief of Staff
must take part of the DNU's creation.
Once the Necessity and Urgency Decree is sanctioned, the Chief of Staff must go and send the DNU to the Permanent Bicameral Committee of the Congress in no more than ten days. Then, the Bicameral Committee delivers its report to the Chamber of Deputies
and the Senate
. The Committee has also ten days to elaborate the report. It is worth mentioning that, during all this process, the DNU is completely in force.
Each legislative chamber must deliver a resolution
expressing its approval or rejection of the Necessity or Urgency Decree. If both chambers reject the DNU, it loses validity permanently. However, the rights acquired by people affected by the decree will not disappear.
s in Argentina was made by the executive
. These kinds of orders were known as decree-law (Spanish: decreto ley). Under the self-called Argentine Revolution and the National Reorganization Process
(the two latest military governments), the decree-laws were just known as laws.
Because they were de facto governments, there was a legal controversy about the validity of decree-laws. In 1945, the Supreme Court of Argentina
accepted them only if they were needed to fulfill the aim of the government. When the military government finished, the decree-laws were no longer valid, unless the Congress ratified them.
Two years later, in 1946, a new judgment by the Supreme Court established that decree-laws would keep valid after the end of the de facto government that promulgated them, and they could be abolished or modified with other laws.
to the Austral
. This was sanctioned by the President Raúl Alfonsín
in 1985, using the decree 1096/85. Currently, Argentina uses the peso
as its national currency.
In December 1990, the Supreme Court approved the sanction of Necessity and Urgency Decree in the so-called Peralta Case, in which Luis Peralta requested to declare unconstitutional
the decree 36/90, that President Alfonsín promulgated in 1990. The judges of the Court eventually confirmed the validity of the DNU.
, Fernando de la Rúa
, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá
, Eduardo Duhalde
and Néstor Kirchner
) could issue DNU's with no legislative control.
In addition, they are DNU's which were created with no real need or urgency, such as the decrees that modify the Ministries Law to create new executive departments. The abuse of DNU's was also criticized.
, interim President between 2002 and 2003, was the President who signed more DNU's per year since the 1983 return to civilian rule. He promulgated 158 DNU's in one year. Those decrees were neither checked by the Congress.
Néstor Kirchner
(2003–2007) promulgated 270 Necessity and Urgency Decrees in four years and a half. His DNU's released until 2006 were not controlled by the Congress. His average is 60 Necessity and Urgency Decrees per year.
During the presidency of Carlos Menem
(1989–1999), he signed 545 DNU's in ten years, or 54.5 per year. None of his Necessity and Urgency Decrees were analyzed by the legislative
.
In Fernando de la Rúa
's two-years presidency (1999–2001), 73 special decrees were released. His average is 36.5 DNU's per year. The decrees signed by De la Rúa were not analyzed by the Bicameral Committee.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
, current President since 2007, signed five Necessity and Urgency Decrees until March 2009. Since then, she issued three DNU's creating new ministries, another one creating a welfare
plan, a decree to remove Martín Redrado
as president of the Central Bank, and other three Necessity and Urgency Decrees related to the payment of public debt The total number is 13 DNU's in three years of presidency, 4 Necessity and Urgency Decrees per year.
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
of Argentina. Unlike regular decrees, which are used in Argentina for rulemaking
Rulemaking
In administrative law, rulemaking refers to the process that executive and independent agencies use to create, or promulgate, regulations. In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more detailed regulations through rulemaking.By bringing...
, a DNU has the force of law. Once the President promulgates a DNU, the National Congress
Argentine National Congress
The Congress of the Argentine Nation is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies....
must examine it to determine if it keeps enforced or not.
Features
The possibility to promulgate DNU's is established in the article 99 of the Constitution of ArgentinaConstitution of Argentina
The constitution of Argentina is one of the primary sources of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a Constitutional Assembly gathered in Santa Fe, and the doctrinal basis was taken in part from the United States Constitution...
since 1994. As its name indicates, a Necessity and Urgency Decree should be used only under exceptional situations, when it is not possible to follow the normal procedure to create laws in the Congress. In addition, the President cannot sanction DNU's legislating about criminal, tributary or electoral matters.
As it happens with regular decrees, Necessity and Urgency Decrees are promulgated by the President, but in General Agreement of Ministers (Spanish: Acuerdo general de ministros). It means that all Ministers and the Chief of Staff
Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers
The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers is a political office of Argentina, created by the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution. The current office holder is Aníbal Fernández.-Attributions:...
must take part of the DNU's creation.
Once the Necessity and Urgency Decree is sanctioned, the Chief of Staff must go and send the DNU to the Permanent Bicameral Committee of the Congress in no more than ten days. Then, the Bicameral Committee delivers its report to the Chamber of Deputies
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
and the Senate
Argentine Senate
The Argentine Senate is the upper house of the Argentine National Congress. It has 72 senators: three for each province and three for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires...
. The Committee has also ten days to elaborate the report. It is worth mentioning that, during all this process, the DNU is completely in force.
Each legislative chamber must deliver a resolution
Resolution (law)
A resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be...
expressing its approval or rejection of the Necessity or Urgency Decree. If both chambers reject the DNU, it loses validity permanently. However, the rights acquired by people affected by the decree will not disappear.
In military governments
All legislation issued by military dictatorshipMilitary dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
s in Argentina was made by the executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
. These kinds of orders were known as decree-law (Spanish: decreto ley). Under the self-called Argentine Revolution and the National Reorganization Process
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
(the two latest military governments), the decree-laws were just known as laws.
Because they were de facto governments, there was a legal controversy about the validity of decree-laws. In 1945, the Supreme Court of Argentina
Supreme Court of Argentina
The Supreme Court of Argentina is the highest court of law of the Argentine Republic. It was inaugurated on 15 January 1863. However, during much of the 20th century, the Court and, in general, the Argentine judicial system, has lacked autonomy from the executive power...
accepted them only if they were needed to fulfill the aim of the government. When the military government finished, the decree-laws were no longer valid, unless the Congress ratified them.
Two years later, in 1946, a new judgment by the Supreme Court established that decree-laws would keep valid after the end of the de facto government that promulgated them, and they could be abolished or modified with other laws.
In constitutional governments
Although DNU's were introduced in the National Constitution in 1994, previous constitutional Presidents have used this type of decrees. One example is the Austral Plan, which changed the national currency from the peso argentinoArgentine peso argentino
The peso argentino was the currency of Argentina between June 6, 1983 and June 14, 1985. It was subdivided into 100 centavos. The symbol was $a. The ISO 4217 code was ARP.-History:...
to the Austral
Argentine austral
The austral was the currency of Argentina between June 15, 1985 and December 31, 1991. It was subdivided into 100 centavos. The symbol was an uppercase A with an extra horizontal line . This symbol appeared on all coins issued in this currency , to distinguish them from earlier currencies...
. This was sanctioned by the President Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
in 1985, using the decree 1096/85. Currently, Argentina uses the peso
Argentine peso
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...
as its national currency.
In December 1990, the Supreme Court approved the sanction of Necessity and Urgency Decree in the so-called Peralta Case, in which Luis Peralta requested to declare unconstitutional
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
the decree 36/90, that President Alfonsín promulgated in 1990. The judges of the Court eventually confirmed the validity of the DNU.
Irregularities
Despite the fact that the Constitution says the Congress must create a special law to analyze Necessity and Urgency Decrees, this law was created in 2006, twelve years after the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution, when the DNU were introduced. It means that all Presidents who ruled in this period (Carlos MenemCarlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
, Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá
Adolfo Rodríguez Saá
Adolfo Rodríguez Saá Páez Montero is an Argentine Peronist politician. He was the governor of the province of San Luis during several terms, and briefly served as President of Argentina.-Biography:...
, Eduardo Duhalde
Eduardo Duhalde
-External links:...
and Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
) could issue DNU's with no legislative control.
In addition, they are DNU's which were created with no real need or urgency, such as the decrees that modify the Ministries Law to create new executive departments. The abuse of DNU's was also criticized.
Statistics since 1994
Eduardo DuhaldeEduardo Duhalde
-External links:...
, interim President between 2002 and 2003, was the President who signed more DNU's per year since the 1983 return to civilian rule. He promulgated 158 DNU's in one year. Those decrees were neither checked by the Congress.
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
(2003–2007) promulgated 270 Necessity and Urgency Decrees in four years and a half. His DNU's released until 2006 were not controlled by the Congress. His average is 60 Necessity and Urgency Decrees per year.
During the presidency of Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
(1989–1999), he signed 545 DNU's in ten years, or 54.5 per year. None of his Necessity and Urgency Decrees were analyzed by the legislative
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
.
In Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
's two-years presidency (1999–2001), 73 special decrees were released. His average is 36.5 DNU's per year. The decrees signed by De la Rúa were not analyzed by the Bicameral Committee.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
, current President since 2007, signed five Necessity and Urgency Decrees until March 2009. Since then, she issued three DNU's creating new ministries, another one creating a welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
plan, a decree to remove Martín Redrado
Martín Redrado
Hernán Martín Pérez Redrado is an Argentine economist and policy-maker. He served as President of the Central Bank of Argentina between September 2004 and January 2010.-Early life and career:...
as president of the Central Bank, and other three Necessity and Urgency Decrees related to the payment of public debt The total number is 13 DNU's in three years of presidency, 4 Necessity and Urgency Decrees per year.