Organic Law (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the organic law is and why this law is so important. Also, some examples of organic laws.

What is an organic law?

Organic laws are those referring to matters of such importance to the nation that Its approval requires a consensus and approval procedure by the legislative branch usually held by parliament, national assembly or congress. Organic laws usually refer to matters vital to the democratic life of the country, such as fundamental constitutional norms, public freedoms or the articulation of the powers of the State.

Organic laws are considered a kind of intermediate step between ordinary laws and the constitutional text so the approval, modification or repeal of this type of laws in a parliament generally requires something more than a simple majority (absolute majority or some type of qualified majority), according to what the national legal framework establishes in this regard. It should be noted that not all countries have a legal framework that includes organic laws.

The most immediate legal antecedent of an organic law is found in French Law, specifically in the text of the 1958 Constitution, with which the Fifth French Republic was founded.

Importance of organic laws

Organic laws constitute a useful tool to exert significant or vital changes in the way States operate without having to alter or reformulate the constitutional framework, which would basically imply refounding the Republic or initiating some type of amendment process or Constituent Assembly, which always represents a long, difficult and risky process. In that sense, organic laws are an intermediate solution for managing profound changes in vital matters for the State.

Examples of organic laws

Some examples of organic laws are the following:

Organic Law on financing of political parties (Spain, 2007) Where the precepts that regulate access to money to political parties are established, to avoid and punish corruption.
Organic Labor Law (Venezuela, 2012) In which the legal terms of work in said country are remodeled, establishing a new legal framework that regulates labor relations.
Constitutional Organic Law (Chile, 1980) That defines some important constitutional precepts regarding the administration of the State (elections, mining concessions, political parties, etc.). This law appears in the Constitution.
Organic Law of the Judiciary (Argentina, 1998) Which organizes the judicial power and its instances in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, which has its own and independent legal regime.
Organic Law of Citizen Security (Spain, 2015) Law that replaced the Organic Law on the protection of citizen security of 1992, and which created a lot of controversy due to its anti-democratic nature by reformulating the criminal precepts of the Spanish justice system.