Article 93 Ordinance making power
Ordinance making power
Ordinances allow urgent law-making but bypass parliamentary debate. Businesses and citizens need to know that an Ordinance can lapse and that its continued force depends on Parliament.
Parliament stands dissolved or is not in session, and the government says an urgent situation needs a legal change. The President, satisfied that immediate action is necessary, makes and promulgates an Ordinance with the force of an Act of Parliament.
The Ordinance cannot make any provision that an Act could not lawfully make, cannot alter or repeal any provision of the Constitution, and cannot simply continue in force a provision of an earlier Ordinance, under the proviso to clause (1).
When Parliament next meets, the Ordinance must be laid before it at its first meeting. Members may approve it by passing a Bill to the same effect, or pass a resolution disapproving it, which ends it immediately.
Unless repealed earlier, the Ordinance ceases to have effect 30 days after being laid, so Parliament must enact a replacement law to keep it. A budget Ordinance made under clause (3) must also go through Articles 87, 89 and 90.
In plain English
How Article 93 works
Article 93 lets the President make Ordinances, laws with the same force as an Act, when Parliament is dissolved or not in session and immediate action is needed. An Ordinance cannot do anything an Act could not lawfully do, cannot change the Constitution and cannot simply extend an earlier Ordinance. It must be laid before Parliament at its first meeting and lapses 30 days later unless Parliament approves it by passing a law, or earlier if Parliament disapproves it. When Parliament is dissolved, an Ordinance may also authorise spending.
In practice
After Parliament was dissolved in August 2024, the interim government issued 133 Ordinances, all laid at the first sitting of the 13th Parliament on 12 March 2026. A special committee recommended passing 113 (98 unchanged and 15 with amendments) and letting 20 go, including the Supreme Court Judges Appointment Ordinance 2025 and the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance 2025, which were recommended for repeal. As reported on 11 April 2026, 87 Bills were passed to validate 113 Ordinances, and 20 lapsed or were repealed. The budget Ordinances for 2024-25 and 2025-26 were made under Article 93.
The text
What Article 93 says
93. (1) At any time when [Parliament stands dissolved or is not in session], if the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render immediate action necessary, he may make and promulgate such Ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require, and any Ordinance so made shall, as from its promulgation have the like force of law as an Act of Parliament:
Provided that no Ordinance under this clause shall make any provision –
(i) which could not lawfully be made under this Constitution by Act of Parliament;
(ii) for altering or repealing any provision of this Constitution; or
(iii) continuing in force any provision of an Ordinance previously made.
(2) An Ordinance made under clause (1) shall be laid before Parliament at its first meeting following the promulgation of the Ordinance and shall, unless it is earlier repealed, cease to have effect at the expiration of thirty days after it is so laid or, if a resolution disapproving of the Ordinance is passed by Parliament before such expiration, upon the passing of the resolution.
(3) At any time when Parliament stands dissolved, the President may, if he is satisfied that circumstances exist which render such action necessary, make and promulgate an Ordinance authorising expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, whether the expenditure is charged by the Constitution upon that fund or not, and any Ordinance so made shall, as from its promulgation, have the like force of law as an Act of Parliament.
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Key clauses shown. Omitted text is marked with an ellipsis; read the full text on the official site.
English text as published on the official Laws of Bangladesh website. The Bangla text is authoritative (Article 153). Where a court has changed the position, the status note above explains it.
History
Amendments
- Fifteenth Amendment 2011 →Substituted the words "Parliament stands dissolved or is not in session" in clause (1).
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 93: frequently asked questions
What is an Ordinance in Bangladesh?
A law made by the President under Article 93 when Parliament is dissolved or not in session and immediate action is needed. It has the force of an Act, but must be laid before Parliament and lapses 30 days later unless replaced by an Act.
Can an Ordinance amend the Constitution of Bangladesh?
No. The proviso to Article 93(1) bars an Ordinance from altering or repealing any provision of the Constitution, from making provision an Act could not lawfully make, and from continuing an earlier Ordinance.
What happened to the interim government's Ordinances?
All 133 were laid before the 13th Parliament on 12 March 2026. As reported in April 2026, Parliament passed Bills validating 113 of them, while 20, including the Supreme Court judges' appointment and secretariat Ordinances, lapsed or were repealed.
Sources
- Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Article 93 (Laws of Bangladesh)
- The Financial Express: Why Bangladesh's new government should reassess interim govt's ordinances (10 March 2026)
- Prothom Alo English: Interim govt's 133 ordinances: which are dropped and which remain (2 April 2026)
- The Daily Star: Key reform ordinances left to expire (April 2026)
- The Financial Express: JS completes ratification of 113 ordinances (11 April 2026)
- Dhaka Tribune: Two ordinances to be enacted into law (budget ordinances, 17 March 2026)
- Dhaka Tribune: Parliament accepts 98 ordinances, drops 20, reviews others (2 April 2026)
This guide explains the Constitution for general understanding. It is not legal advice. Constitutional reform proposals under discussion in 2026 are described as proposals until enacted.
Constitutional and writ practice
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