Legal Definitions - enactive

Enactive

The term enactive describes something that possesses the authority or capability to establish a new law, rule, or regulation. It refers to the power to formally bring a legal provision into existence and make it binding.

Here are a few examples to illustrate this concept:

• When a national legislature, such as a parliament or congress, debates and passes a new bill concerning environmental protection, that body is exercising its enactive power. The legislature has the constitutional authority to create and implement new laws that will govern the entire country, thereby establishing new legal obligations and rights.

• A state governor issues an executive order to establish new emergency protocols during a public health crisis. This order, while not passed by the legislature, carries the force of law within the executive branch's authority. The governor, in this capacity, is demonstrating enactive power by bringing new, binding rules into effect for a specific situation, such as mandatory mask-wearing or business closures.