One of the most important consequences of the application of the cross of death is the granting of temporary and extraordinary legislative powers to the President of the Republic.

Article 148 of the Constitution says in the appropriate part: “Until the appointment of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic may, after a positive decision by the Constitutional Court, issue decrees-laws on economic urgency, which may be approved or repealed by the legislative body.”

Some considerations:

1. It is an extraordinary assignment of legislative powers, which is justified by the absence of a legislative body.

2. The transferred powers are not complete. The President does not replace the National Assembly. It does not become a legislator per se. The division of functions regime does not change.

3. Presidential legislative powers depend on the previous decision of the Constitutional Court (CC). It is the exercise of temporary and controlled legislative power. Indeed, the Constitutional Court must (i) be aware of the content of the proposed law, its justification and support; (ii) give their consent for the president to issue the instrument; (iii) the opinion must refer to the subject and time schedule of the project; (iv) it is a previous act of control of power by the CC and cannot be understood as a simple formality; (v) it is an essential issue that, temporarily, replaces the application of the principles of checks and controls and co-legislation, typical of the republican system; (vi) without the prior consent of the CC, the President cannot issue a legal decree; and (vii) the CC’s objection could be partial, in which case the President should adapt the project to what the CC indicates.

4. Decree laws. The President, in accordance with the procedure provided for in the Constitution, will adopt legal norms in the form of decree laws. These are regulations with the rank and force of law, which are adopted in extraordinary circumstances, when the president, temporarily, agrees with the parliamentary and executive functions, according to the authority contained in the Constitution.

5. The content of decree laws must be exclusively economic and urgent in nature. Presidential power does not include matters that do not have such conditions. Urgency is related to the need to solve an economic or social need during the period in which the State Assembly is vacant. Decree laws cannot consist of structural reforms or norms that go beyond the restrictive and temporary nature of the presidential legislative exercise.

6. Ratification or repeal of the decree. The new National Assembly will continue to exercise legislative power, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. The Parliament can approve or repeal laws passed by decree.

7. The constitutional provision does not limit other duties and usual state powers of the President of the Republic. (OR)