List of enacting clauses


An enacting clause is a short phrase that introduces the main provisions of a law enacted by a legislature. It is also called enacting formula or enacting words. It usually declares the source from which the law claims to derive its authority.
In many countries, an enacting formula is not considered necessary and is simply omitted. When it is required, a common tactic by a bill's opponent is a motion to "strike the enacting clause", which would make the law unenforceable.
The simplest enacting clauses merely cite the legislature by which the law has been adopted; for example the enacting clause used in Australia since 1990 is "The Parliament of Australia enacts".

National legislatures

Albania

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Australia

[Parliament of Australia]

Austria

Bangladesh

Barbados

1969:
2020:
For bills amending the constitution:

The Bahamas

Belgium

In Belgium the enacting formula appears in the Belgian official journal when the law is promulgated and published, but is usually thereafter not included when the law is printed in compilations, or stored in internet databases, even official ones. The enacting clause is as follows.

Belize

Botswana

Brazil

In Brazil the presidential assent to a bill is called "sanction". After passing both Houses of Congress, the final version of the bill, duly signed by the presiding officers of both Houses, is sent to the President of the Republic. The document is still called a "proposed law", with a bill number, and with the header "The National Congress decrees:". If the President approves the bill, a different copy of the act is prepared by the Presidency of the Republic, with the official number of the Law and the date of enactment of the law, and also with the replacement of the clause "The National Congress decrees:" with the above-mentioned formula "THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC: I make it known that the National Congress decrees and I sanction the following Law:". The signatures of the presiding officers of Congress are therefore not present in this version of the act. This is the version of the statute that is published in the Official Journal and that is included in the statute books. When granting his approval to a bill, the President signs both the bill sent to him by Congress and the final version of the statute with the presidential enacting formula. The signed Bill is returned to Congress by means of a presidential message; the signed statute with the presidential enacting formula is printed in the Official Journal, and the original is thereafter sent to the National Archive. Thus, in Brazil, the President is always seen signing two different documents at bill signing ceremony : one is the text of the proposed law, the other is the final text of the statute. Technically, the first signature is the "sanction to the proposed law", that is, the approval of the bill, that transforms it in a Law, and the second signature is the promulgation, the announcement to the people that the Law has been adopted. While the signature of the President on the bill includes the addition of the formula "I sanction it" above the signature, this is not seen in the final "promulgation" autograph of the statute. On the other hand, the promulgated statute contains not only the signature of the president, but also the countersignatures of his ministers principally charged with applying the law.
When the president vetoes a bill, and the veto is overridden, the Bill is returned by Congress to the President not for sanction, but merely for promulgation. In that case, the president is expected to promulgate the bill in 48 hours. In that situation, the enacting formula that appears in the final text of the adopted statute is as follows:
Tacit sanction is deemed to take place if the president fails to sign or veto a bill within the constitutionally mandated timeframe of fifteen working days from receiving the bill. Once the bill is considered implicitly sanctioned, the president is expected to promulgate the new law and the same 48-hour timeframe applies. The formula in this case is:
Should the president refuse to promulgate, or fail to promulgate in the period of 48 hours, a bill, after his veto has been overridden by Congress, then the authority to promulgate the bill passes to the President of the Senate. In that case, the formula of promulgation is:
Should the president of the Republic refuse to promulgate, or fail to promulgate in the period of 48 hours, a bill, after the bill has been implicitly sanctioned due to his failure to sign or veto it within the constitutionally mandated timeframe, then the authority to promulgate the bill passes to the President of the Senate. In that case, the formula of promulgation is:
Whenever the president adopts a provisional measure and the provisional measure is approved by Congress with changes, a normal bill is sent to the president for approval or veto, and the same formulas used for other bills are employed; once enacted, the new statute replaces the provisional measure. However, if the provisional measure adopted by the president is approved by Congress without changes, the bill does not need to be presented for approval or veto; in that case, the law that both corresponds fully to the provisional measure and replaces it is promulgated directly by the President of the Senate, with the following words:
Historical: General Assembly of the Empire of Brazil
Whenever the General Assembly of the Empire passed a bill, a decree of the General Assembly containing the articles of the approved bill was sent to the Emperor for sanction or veto. The Decree of the General Assembly began with the following formula : "The General Assembly decrees:". The decree was still only a proposed law, that would become an actual law if sanctioned by the Emperor. The General Assembly sent its decree to the Emperor for sanction or veto by means of a message with the words following: "The General Assembly sends to the Emperor the enclosed decree, that it considers advantageous, and useful to the Empire, and it asks that His Imperial Majesty may be pleased to grant it His sanction". If the Emperor decided to sanction the decree, then he sent the message of the General Assembly back to the Legislature, adding after the text of the Decree of the General Assembly the following words, together with the date and his signature: ""The Emperor consents". Then, the Executive branch prepared a formal document to promulgate the new law, and this document was known in the imperial period as a Charter of Law. It was the chartered version of the law that was included in the statute books and that was printed and published for the knowledge of the people. Thus, the Charter of Law was the final version of the statute as adopted. It was signed by the Emperor and countersigned by his responsible Ministers, and contained an enacting formula as follows:
When the powers of the Emperor were discharged by Regents on behalf of the monarch the formula was as follows:

Canada

The enacting clause for money bills differs. For example, in the Appropriation Act No. 4, 2015–16, it reads as follows:

Chile

Colombia

Croatia

Words "Hrvatski sabor" are printed in uppercase as a header on all laws, thereby starting the enacting clause and symbolizing that there is no authority higher than the Parliament. This might be rooted in a popular quote from Ante Starčević in a parliamentary discussion in June 1861, as he stated that there is no-one above the parliamentary sovereignty. A brief statement follows, signed by the President of Croatia, promulgating the law, referring to his constitutional right to do so and the session of the parliament where the legislation has been passed.

Denmark

Dominica

Finland

:
Before 1917 :

Fiji

France

Germany

For acts which do not need the consent of the Bundesrat:
For acts which need the consent of the Bundesrat:
For acts which need an absolute majority and the consent of the Bundesrat:
For acts that change the Basic Law:
All laws conclude with the following formula before the place and date of signature, the signature of the Federal President and the countersignatures of the Federal Chancellor and of the Federal Ministers responsible for the subject-matter of the law:

Ghana

Greece

Normal lawmaking

According to the current Constitution of Greece each law is approved by the Parliament and promulgated by the President of the Republic.
Before the first amendment of the current Constitution of Greece each law had to be approved by the Parliament and then to be ratified and promulgated by the President of the Republic.
Under the presidential parliamentary Constitution of 1927 and since the Senate's formation in June, 1929, each law had to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and then to be promulgated by the President of Republic.
Also, during constitutional monarchy regime, under the Constitutions of 1864 and 1952, each law had to be approved by both the Parliament and the King and then promulgated by the later.
  • Especially, under the Constitution of 1844, each law had to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the King and then promulgated by the last.

    Lawmaking under the [state of emergency]

In case of extremely urgent unforeseen situations, the Constitution grants the Greek government along with the President of the Republic to issue legislative acts bypassing the parliamentary approval, in order to deal with urgent issues, provided that act to be later submitted for sanction in Parliament within forty days after either its promulgation or the parliamentary session convocation, in order to acquire legal power.
Under the previous presidential parliamentary Constitutions, Emergency laws and legislative decrees were enacted by the following clause:
  • Especially, during Second Hellenic Republic period, emergency laws and legislative decrees were enacted by the following clause:
During the Kingdom of Greece period, emergency laws and legislative decrees were enacted by the following clause:
  • Especially, under 1952 Constitution, the legislative decrees were promulgated only during the absence of Parliament-in-session with consent of a special parliamentary committee, consisted of a fixed by law number of MPs appointed in advance at the start of each session.