Understanding Regulations: Concept, Types, and Legal Validity

Concept

A regulation is a rule that creates rights and obligations for its recipients, representing a legal innovation. Regulations are generally not addressed to individuals but to a whole group. They have indefinite validity and their effectiveness is not exhausted in a single application. They can be applied over a single character's lifespan. Regulations must be written and are dictated by Public Administrations, unlike laws, which are dictated and approved by parliaments. Regulations have a subordinate nature, subject to the law, and are of lower hierarchy. A regulation cannot alter the text of a law; if it did, it would be illegal and null and void.

Terminology

Each regulation has a name according to the body that approves it:

• Regulations approved by the Council of Ministers are called Royal Decrees.
• Regulations approved by ministers are called Ministerial Orders.
• Regulations approved by Secretaries of State or General Managers are called Resolutions.

Classes

Classification of regulations according to the Civil Service:

• State Regulations
• Autonomous Regulations
• Local Administration Regulations
• Corporate Regulations (e.g., Professional Associations)
• Institutional Administration Regulations

Validity Requirements

1. Approval by a Competent Body

Not all bodies have the authority to make regulations. If an organ does not have regulatory authority conferred by law, the regulation is illegal and therefore null and void, as per Article 62.2 of Law 30/92. Bodies that have competence include the General Administration of the State, the Administration of the Government of Catalonia, and Local Administration.

2. Respect for the Normative Hierarchy

Regulations are organized hierarchically. Rules of lower rank cannot contravene, amend, or repeal rules of higher rank. If this principle is violated, the regulation would be illegal and invalid in its own right, as per Article 9.3 of the Spanish Constitution and Article 62.2 of Law 30/92.

Illegal Regulations

Channels for legalizing illegal regulations:

• By the Administration itself
• By the courts (Judicial Branch)
• Before the Constitutional Court