Ordonnance

In the Government of France, an ordonnance (French for "ordinance") is a statute passed by the Council of Ministers in an area of law normally reserved for statute law passed by the Parliament of France.

They should not be confused with decrees, which are executive decisions passed either in fields where the Constitution allows primary legislation from the Council, or secondary legislation supplementing a statute.

In the French justice system, the word can also refer to a summary ruling made by a single judge for simple cases.

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