List of enacting clauses


An enacting clause, or enacting formula, is a short phrase that introduces the main provisions of a law enacted by a legislature. 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.
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". Alternatively an enacting clause may invoke the ultimate sovereign. For example, California, based on the principle of popular sovereignty, has the following enacting clause: "The People of the State of California do enact as follows."

National legislatures

Antigua and Barbuda

Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda:

Argentina

Congress of Argentina:

Australia

Parliament of Australia:
For constitutional amendments passed at a referendum:
Before October 1990:
1901–?:

Austria

National Council:

Barbados

Parliament of Barbados:
1969:

Bahamas

Parliament of the Bahamas:

Belgium

In Belgium the enacting formula appears in the 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

Parliament of Belize:

Brazil

National Congress of 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:
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

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

Chile

National Congress of Chile:

Colombia

Congress of Colombia:

Croatia

Hrvatski sabor:
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

The Danish Folketing:

Finland

Parliament of Finland :
Before 1917 :

Fiji

Parliament of Fiji:

France

Parliament of France:

Germany

Bundestag of 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:

Greece

Hellenic Parliament:
According to the Constitution of Greece each law is approved by the parliament and promulgated by the President of the Republic.

Grenada

Parliament of Grenada:

India

Parliament of India:

Indonesia

Indonesian laws have a preamble stating the aims of the law and the clauses of the Constitution relevant to the law. The enacting clause is both before and after the preamble.
People's Consultative Assembly:
Before 2000, the phrase after the preamble was as follows:

Ireland

The Oireachtas :
Standard:
For an act with a preamble:

Israel

Currently, Israel does not use enacting clauses in its final laws, but a pseudo-enacting clause is usually printed at the beginning of bills:
However, the Law and Administration Ordinance did have an enacting clause:

Italy

Italian laws are published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale with the following enacting clause:
After the text of the law itself, the enacting clause continues:
After this concluding clause, the place and date of signature follow. Then the signature of the President of the Republic and the counter-signatures of the President of the Council of Ministers and of the keeper of the State Seal. Those counter-signatures are printed in normal letters when the law is published in the Gazette. The keeper of the State seal counter-signs the law when sealing it.
Thereafter, this enacting clause is usually omitted when the law is reprinted in internet compilations or legal books.

Jamaica

Parliament of Jamaica:

Kiribati

Maneaba ni Maungatabu:

Lebanon

Parliament of Lebanon:

Malaysia

Parliament of Malaysia:
Since 1998:
Before 1998:

Malta

Parliament of Malta:

Mexico

Congress of Mexico:

Moldova

Parliament of the Republic of Moldova:

Namibia

Parliament of the Republic of Namibia:

Nauru

Parliament of Nauru:

Netherlands

Estates-General of the Netherlands:
The text in Dutch is:

New Zealand

Parliament of New Zealand:
1986–1999:
Before 1986:

Nigeria

Nigerian National Assembly:

Pakistan

Parliament of Pakistan:

Papua New Guinea

National Parliament of Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Congress of Paraguay:

Philippines

Congress of the Philippines
1987 Constitution:
Bills:
Joint Resolutions:

Peru

Congress of Peru:

Portugal

Assembly of the Republic:

Romania

Parliament of Romania:
1965–1989:
1948–1965:
1881–1947:

South Africa

Parliament of South Africa:
Since 27 April 1994:
or
The Constitution of South Africa, not being a conventional Act of Parliament, does not contain an enacting formula per se. Its preamble does, however, contain the words In the context, "we" refers to the people of South Africa.
3 September 1984 to 27 April 1994:
1 January 1981 to 3 September 1984:
31 May 1961 to 1 January 1981:
31 May 1910 to 31 May 1961:

Spain

Cortes Generales of Spain:
For Constitutions:
For organic acts:

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Parliament of Saint Kitts and Nevis:

Saint Lucia

Parliament of Saint Lucia:

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines:

Singapore

Parliament of Singapore:

Solomon Islands

National Parliament of the Solomon Islands:

Swaziland

Parliament of Swaziland

Switzerland

Swiss Federal Assembly:

Thailand

National Assembly of Thailand:
Constitution:
Act:
Royal Degree & Emergency Decree:
Royal Command:

Tuvalu

Parliament of Tuvalu:

United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
An enacting clause may be preceded by an explanatory preamble of "whereas" clauses, e.g. for the Chequers Estate Act 1917.

United States

Congress of the United States
Bills:
Joint Resolutions :

Vanuatu

Parliament of Vanuatu

Venezuela

National Assembly of Venezuela:

Zimbabwe

Parliament of Zimbabwe:

Former legislatures

Hong Kong

Australia

Provincial councils (abolished in 1876)

[Sangguniang Panlalawigan]

Devolved institutions

State legislatures