I.COMPARATIVE LAW, CONSTITUTIONS, POLITICS AND BUDGET SYSTEMS

This does not, however, exclude the possibility of adopting additional “ordinary” laws to elaborate on budget principles and processes. In the case of France, there are no additional laws of importance relating to State budget processes – the emphasis is on ensuring that budget and accounting regulations are in place (for detail, see the France country case study).

Second, there are “framework” laws, which differ from “organic” laws. In a federal country, the constitution may allow laws to be adopted that oblige sub-national governments to adopt legislation in line with general principles specified in a federal law. Germany is a prime example: the 1967-69 constitutional amendments authorised the Federation to adopt legislation that establishes budget principles applicable to both the Federation and the provinces (Länder), even though the two levels of government are “autonomous and independent of each other in budget management”.13

Many countries do not have a hierarchical system of law, and there, all laws apart from the constitution are ordinary laws. Such countries are free to adopt tailor-made laws for specific areas of budget management. Nonetheless, differences exist between countries in the way ordinary laws relating to budget processes are organised and consolidated. The main options are:

●Codification which can be defined as a consolidation of pre-existing laws in a logically conceived framework.14 The United States is an example. For

budget management, Title 31 of the US Code – on “Money and Finance” – was adopted as a separate law in 1982. The sections on budget processes and financial management provide a sizeable part of the formal legal framework for United States federal government budget processes.

●Consolidation of existing ordinary laws. This may occur if there is a perceived need to clarify, modify, or simplify laws that possibly overlap. For example, in December 2004, New Zealand integrated modified versions of the 1989 Public Finance Act and the 1994 Fiscal Responsibility Act in a single new act.

●No consolidation. In some countries’ legal traditions are such that there is no perceived need for consolidation of existing public finance laws. For example, in the United Kingdom, although parts of the 1866 Exchequer and Audit Departments Act have been repealed by subsequent laws, some sections are still operative.

4.4. Not all countries complete all steps of formal law-making processes

Differences between countries’ budget system laws and regulations can be partly explained by difference in attitudes towards completing the three main phases of making law and regulations (Box I.4).