Chapter II

CATEGORIES OF LEGISLATIVE ACTS

Article 7. Types of Laws
(1) Law shall be subdivided into three types: constitutional, organic and
ordinary.
(2) Law adoption formula shall indicate the type of the law.
(3) Laws shall be adopted by the majority of vote as specified in the
Constitution.
Article 8. Constitutional Laws
(1) The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova shall be the supreme law of
the society and the state.
(2) Constitutional laws are laws on changes and(or) amendments to the
Constitution (laws on revisions to the Constitution) that are adopted by two
thirds of the parliamentary votes, also laws approved by a republican
referendum.
Article 9. Organic Laws
(1) Organic laws are legislative acts that represent a development of
constitutional norms and apply only to areas directly envisaged by the
Constitution or to other areas of utmost importance for which adoption of an
organic law is considered necessary by the Parliament.
(2) Areas regulated by the organic law shall be established by paragraphs )
- ), part (3), Article 72 of the Constitution.
(3) In compliance with provisions of paragraph p), part (3), Article 72 of the
Constitution, organic laws shall also regulate:
) identification of the countrys borders;
b) approval of the national anthem;
) procedure for language functioning;
d) conditions for acquiring, maintaining and forfeiting citizenship;
) structure of the national healthcare system and means intended to care
for and protect human physical and mental health;
f) identification of state offices that cannot be occupied by members of
parties;
g) prolongation of the Parliamentary mandate in case of war or disaster;

h) conditions for nonqualifying as parliamentarian except for those directly

envisaged by the Constitution;
i) procedure for electing the President of the Republic of Moldova;
j) prolongation of the Presidential term in case of war or disaster;
k) selection of other members of the Government except for the prime
minister, first deputy prime minister or deputy prime ministers, and
ministers;
l) conditions for nonqualifying as member of Government except for those
directly envisaged by the Constitution

m) structure of the national defense system;

n) particular forms and conditions for autonomy of some settlements on the
left bank of the River Dniester and in the south of the Republic of Moldova;
o) powers, organization and activities of the Counting Chamber;
p) identification of substantive and procedural norms for initiating,
maintaining and terminating a business (an entrepreneurial activity), also for
controlling businesses;
q) establishing limits for regulation of entrepreneurial activities by the
Government and /or bodies of public administration.
(4) Organic laws shall be adopted by the majority of vote of elected
parliamentarians unless another majority is stipulated by the Constitution.
Organic laws shall be adopted after at least 2 hearings and shall be
subordinated to constitutional laws.
(5) As a rule, organic laws or some of their provisions shall be changed,
added to or invalidated by an organic law in accordance with the established
procedure.
[Article 9 amended by Law # 281-XVI dated 14.12.2007, effective from
10.06.2008]
Article 10. Ordinary Laws
(1) Ordinary laws shall apply to all areas of social relations except for those
regulated by the Constitution and organic laws.
(11) National concepts in major directions of domestic and foreign policy of
the state shall be approved by means of legislative acts that as a rule shall
be ordinary laws.

(2) Ordinary laws shall be adopted by the majority of vote of attending

parliamentarians and shall be subordinated to constitutional and organic
laws.
(3) As a rule, ordinary laws shall be changed, supplemented and invalidated,
fully or partially, by an ordinary law in accordance with specially established
procedure.

Types of Legislation
Statute Laws
Statute Laws are those laws that are made by Parliament. Statute Laws can
be made either directly, through the passing of Acts of Parliament, or
indirectly, through the creation of Statutory Instruments that contain rules
and regulations. Yearly, Parliament creates around one hundred laws through
Acts of Parliament and creates around two thousand Statutory Instruments.
Sometimes Parliament will pass a very general law and leave the relevant
minister to fill in the details since that minister is often in the best position to
do this. Delegating such lawmaking powers to ministers ensures expediency
and efficiently in the lawmaking process since the Minister does not have to
return to Parliament each time a change in circumstances result in the need
for a change in law. Really, the delegation of these powers results in the
ministers becoming lawmakers themselves.
European Laws
Britain joined the European Union in 1973 and, in doing so, agreed to be
subject to European Community Laws. European Laws have direct effect
within the legal systems of the countries that make up the European Union
and actually override national laws in many cases, especially in terms of
economic and social policy.
If Britain ever decided to withdraw from the European Union then European
Community Laws would cease to be binding.
Common Law
England also has a body of law known as the Common Law which has
developed over centuries from judgements given in courts. The Common
Law has been hugely important in the development of the English legal
system. For example, until 1861 there was no Statute Law criminalising
murder. Murder had, however, always been considered a crime since courts

had from the earliest times considered it to be grossly wrong and therefore
obviously criminal.
Common Law works through the system of Precedent. If a judge makes a
decision in a case then other judges will usually follow the example that has
been set and give a similar verdict in cases involving similar facts. If the
decision of the first judge should happen to be overruled by a higher court,
then subsequent judges would follow the decision of the higher court
instead. The judge who makes the first decision effectively makes a law since
his or her ruling will be followed in the future.
Even in the case of Statute Laws the judges have a vital role to play since it
is their task to interpret the laws made by Parliament. Since a judge can only
look at what the law actually says, not what Parliament meant it to say,
Parliament has to be incredibly careful when drafting new laws.
There are two main types of legislation in the UK:
Primary legislation - Acts of Parliament or Statutes
Secondary legislation - Statutory Instruments (SIs, which are often called
Codes, Orders, Regulations, Rules)
There are also quasi legislation and European Community Legislation.
Primary legislation
There are two types of primary legislation:
Public General Acts - There are usually 25 to 50 new Public Acts each year.
Since 1999, most Public General Acts are accompanied by Explanatory
Notes, which explain in clear English what the Act sets out to achieve and
place its effect in context.
Local and Personal Acts - these Acts affect a particular locality, person or
body. There have been less than five per year in recent times, but in the
Victorian era these Acts were used in relation to boroughs, railways, canal
companies and enclosed land. Personal Acts were also one important method
of obtaining a divorce before it became available in the secular courts in
1857.
Legislation is available from legislation.gov.uk however not all legislation is
available as amended on that site at present. For up-to-date versions of
legislation use LexisLibrary or Westlaw, or, in print, Halsbury's Statutes and
its noting up services.
Secondary legislation
Statutory Instrument (SI) is a generic term used for Orders, Regulations,
Rules, Codes etc. They are also referred to as subordinate, subsidiary or

delegated legislation. They are generally made by Goverment Ministers

under under powers delegated by Parliament.
Quasi legislation
This broad category of legislation is difficult to classify. It includes
Government Circulars (often available from government web sites); Rule
Books (produced by the body concerned) and Codes (Codes of Practice under
Police and Criminal Evidence Act, Highway Code etc).