Establishment of the Continental Security Agency Gazette

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Director’s Order Number 01/2026

Establishment of the Continental Security Agency Gazette

Director’s Order

I, Enzo Hernandez, Director of the Continental Security Agency, state the following.

Whereas:

1.
every body of the Continental Security Agency, including the Executive, the Continental Assembly, the Judiciary and the independent commissions, issues documents that must be made known to the bodies and persons to which they apply;
2.
the Continental Security Agency has no single official publication in which those documents are published, and no common rules on how they are classified, created, numbered, cited, presented and published; and
3.
the documents of the Continental Security Agency are published in English and in Dhivehi, and must carry the same meaning in both languages;

Under the authority vested in the Director to direct the affairs of the Continental Security Agency,

I, Enzo Hernandez, Director of the Continental Security Agency, hereby establish the CSA Gazette by this Order, and order that the documents of the Continental Security Agency shall be classified, created, numbered, cited, presented and published as follows:

1.
The CSA Gazette is the official publication of the Continental Security Agency. The CSA Gazette shall be published by The Director's Office on www.gazette.csa, and every document published in it shall be available to the public from the date of its publication.
2.
Every body of the CSA shall publish its Acts, Regulations, Guidelines and Notices only in the CSA Gazette, in accordance with this Order. A body of the CSA includes every department, office, division, authority, committee and other body of the Executive, the Continental Assembly, the Judiciary and every independent commission of the CSA.
3.
The text of a document as published in the CSA Gazette is the official text of that document, and shall prevail over any other copy. An Act, Director's Order, Regulation or Guideline shall have no effect unless it is published in the CSA Gazette.
4.
The Gazette Office is hereby established as a Section of the Public Relations Division of The Director's Office. The Gazette Office shall be run by the Public Relations Executive.
5.
The functions of the Gazette Office are:
(a)
to receive the documents submitted for publication in the CSA Gazette;
(b)
to review every document submitted to it for compliance with this Order;
(c)
to return to the issuing body any document that does not comply with this Order, stating each matter that does not comply;
(d)
to assign document numbers in accordance with point 18 of this Order;
(e)
to publish documents in the CSA Gazette;
(f)
to maintain the Gazette Register in accordance with point 34 of this Order; and
(g)
to keep a permanent record of every document published in the CSA Gazette, including every document that has been amended or repealed.
6.
Every document published in the CSA Gazette shall be one of the following types:
(a)
Act (ޤާނޫނު);
(b)
Director's Order (އަމުރު);
(c)
Regulation (ގަވާއިދު);
(d)
Guideline (އުޞޫލު); and
(e)
Notice (އިޢުލާން).
No document shall be published in the CSA Gazette as any other type. An amendment is not a separate type of document, and is a document of the same type as the document it amends. A Guideline may be titled either a Guideline or a Policy, and a document titled a Policy is a Guideline for every purpose of this Order.
7.
An Act is the primary law of the CSA. An Act sets out the law on a subject, establishes bodies and confers powers and duties. An Act may be issued:
(a)
by any department of the CSA, after the Act has been ratified by the Continental Assembly; or
(b)
until the Continental Assembly establishes the ratification of Acts, by the Cabinet, by the Director, or by the Cabinet and the Director jointly.
An Act issued under (b) of this point shall have the same effect as an Act issued under (a) of this point.
8.
A Director's Order is an order of the Director, issued to establish, structure or direct the bodies and affairs of the CSA within the authority of the Director. A Director's Order shall be issued only by the Director, and shall be binding on every body and person of the CSA to which it applies. Any reference in a document of the CSA to an "Executive Mandate" shall be read as a reference to a Director's Order.
9.
A Regulation sets out the detailed rules required to carry out an Act or a Director's Order. A Regulation shall be made only under an enabling provision of an Act or a Director's Order, and only by the body named in that enabling provision. A Regulation shall be binding on every body and person to which it applies.
10.
A Guideline sets out the procedures, standards, principles or policy that a body shall follow in carrying out its functions. A Guideline may be issued:
(a)
by the body named in an enabling provision of an Act, a Director's Order or a Regulation; or
(b)
by any body of the CSA, on matters within that body's own functions.
A Guideline issued under (b) of this point shall apply only within the functions of the body that issued it.
11.
A Notice is an announcement by a body of the CSA, and may be issued by any body of the CSA. A Notice shall be used for:
(a)
appointments, removals and changes of office;
(b)
decisions on individual matters;
(c)
instructions to the staff and bodies under the issuing body;
(d)
corrections under point 35 of this Order; and
(e)
announcements to the public.
A Notice shall not create, amend or repeal any rule, and shall not create any other document.
12.
Documents published in the CSA Gazette rank in the following order, from highest to lowest: Acts, Director's Orders, Regulations, Guidelines and Notices. A document shall not be contrary to a document of a higher rank. Where a provision of a document is contrary to a document of a higher rank, that provision shall have no effect to the extent that it is contrary.
13.
An enabling provision is a provision of a document that permits a body to create another document. Every enabling provision shall state:
(a)
the type of document that may be created;
(b)
the body that may create it; and
(c)
the matters that it may cover.
14.
Documents may create other documents only as follows:
(a)
an Act may create Regulations and Guidelines;
(b)
a Director's Order may create Regulations and Guidelines;
(c)
a Regulation may create Guidelines;
(d)
a Guideline shall not create any other document, but may contain Appendices;
(e)
a Notice shall not create any other document; and
(f)
no document shall create an Act or a Director's Order.
15.
A document created under an enabling provision:
(a)
shall state that enabling provision in (a) of its Article 1, in the form "This Regulation is made under Article 12 (a) of Act Number 2/2026 (Public Bonds Companies Act).";
(b)
shall not go beyond the matters stated in that enabling provision; and
(c)
shall not be contrary to the document that contains that enabling provision.
Only the body named in an enabling provision may create a document under it, and that body shall not transfer that power to another body unless the enabling provision permits it.
16.
A body of the CSA may be established only by an Act or a Director's Order. A Regulation, Guideline or Notice shall not establish a body.
17.
Every document shall be numbered strictly in the following forms, and no other number, prefix, suffix, volume or gazette identifier shall be added to a document number:
(a)
an Act: "Act Number #/year";
(b)
a Director's Order: "Director's Order Number #/year";
(c)
a Regulation: "R-#/year", cited as "Regulation Number R-#/year";
(d)
a Guideline: "G-#/year", cited as "Guideline Number G-#/year"; and
(e)
a Notice: the reference number of the issuing body.
In this point, "#" is the serial number of the document and "year" is the year in which the document is published, written in four digits. The number of a document shall be the same in every language in which the document is published.
18.
The serial numbers of Acts, Director's Orders, Regulations and Guidelines shall be assigned by the Gazette Office. Each of these types shall have a single series of serial numbers for the whole CSA, which shall begin at 1 at the start of each year and continue in the order in which documents are accepted for publication. A number assigned to a document shall not be assigned to any other document, including after that document has been repealed. The reference number of a Notice shall be assigned by the issuing body, and shall not be used by that body for any other document.
19.
An amendment shall be numbered as a new document in the series of the type of the document it amends. An amendment shall be titled by its order and by the number and title of the document it amends, in the form "First Amendment to Act Number 2/2026 (Public Bonds Companies Act)". The amendments to a document shall be counted in order: First, Second, Third, and so on.
20.
Acts, Regulations and Guidelines shall be divided into Articles, which may be grouped into Chapters. Chapters and Articles shall be numbered in order, and Articles shall be numbered throughout the whole document without restarting in each Chapter. The points of an Article shall be numbered (a), (b), (c), and so on, and the points under them (1), (2), (3), and so on. These documents shall not use the words "section" or "subsection".
21.
A Director's Order shall be written in numbered points, and the points under them shall be numbered (a), (b), (c), and so on. The reasons stated before the Director's decision shall be numbered separately, and are not points of the Order.
22.
The schedules of a document shall be called Appendices, and shall be numbered in order: Appendix 1, Appendix 2, and so on.
23.
Within the same document:
(a)
a point of the same Article shall be cited in the form "(a)(1) of this Article", where "this Article" refers to the whole Article;
(b)
another Article shall be cited in the form "Article 5 (a)(1) of this Act", using the words "this Act", "this Regulation", "this Guideline" or "this Policy", according to the type and title of the document;
(c)
a range of Articles shall be cited in the form "Articles 28 to 40 of this Act";
(d)
in a Director's Order, a point shall be cited in the form "point 5 (a) of this Order", and a point under the same point in the form "(a) of this point"; and
(e)
an Appendix shall be cited in the form "Appendix 2 of this Regulation".
24.
Another document shall be cited in full each time it is cited, by its type, its number and its title in brackets, in the following forms:
(a)
an Act: "Article 23 (a)(1) of Act Number 1/2026 (title of the Act)";
(b)
a Director's Order: "point 4 (a) of Director's Order Number 1/2026 (title of the Order)";
(c)
a Regulation: "Article 5 (b) of Regulation Number R-3/2026 (title of the Regulation)";
(d)
a Guideline, including one titled a Policy: "Article 2 of Guideline Number G-1/2026 (title of the Guideline)"; and
(e)
a Notice: by its reference number, the name of the issuing body and the date of the Notice.
A document shall not cite the CSA Gazette, or any publication of the CSA Gazette, within its own text.
25.
An Appendix shall not refer to the document it belongs to as "this Act", "this Order", "this Regulation", "this Guideline" or "this Policy". An Appendix shall cite the document it belongs to by the name of the issuing body and the type, number and title of the document, in the form "Article 23 of [issuing body]'s Act Number 2/2026 (Public Bonds Companies Act)".
26.
Acts, Director's Orders, Regulations and Guidelines, and amendments to any of them, shall be published with a cover page. A cover page shall contain only:
(a)
the words "CSA Gazette";
(b)
the emblem and name of the issuing body;
(c)
the type and number of the document;
(d)
the title of the document; and
(e)
the date of publication.
A Notice shall not be published with a cover page. A Notice shall begin with the letterhead of the issuing body, with the reference number and date of the Notice directly below it, and shall end with the name, position and signature of the person who issues it and the stamp of the issuing body.
27.
Every Act, Regulation and Guideline shall:
(a)
begin with an Article titled "Introduction and title", stating any enabling provision under which it is made and the title by which it shall be cited;
(b)
set out its purpose in its second Article;
(c)
state when it comes into force in its second last Article, and may set out the meaning of the words used in it in its last Article; and
(d)
end with the name, position and signature of the person who issues it on behalf of the issuing body, the date on which it is signed, and the stamp of the issuing body.
28.
Every Director's Order shall be set out in the following order:
(a)
the number and title of the Order, followed by the words "Director's Order";
(b)
a statement by the Director, in the first person, introducing the Order;
(c)
the reasons for the Order, numbered in accordance with point 21 of this Order;
(d)
the authority under which the Order is issued;
(e)
the decision of the Director, in the first person;
(f)
the points of the Order;
(g)
a statement of the date and place at which the Order is issued; and
(h)
the signature, name and title of the Director, and the stamp of The Director's Office.
29.
An Appendix may be prepared as a separate document and joined to the document it belongs to before publication. An Appendix forms part of that document and has the same effect as that document. Every Appendix shall be identifiable as part of its document if separated from it, and for this purpose shall:
(a)
begin with the letterhead of the issuing body, without a seal;
(b)
carry the Appendix number in a header on its first page only;
(c)
carry, on every page after the first, a header citing the number of the document and the provision under which the Appendix is made;
(d)
begin with an opening line citing the provision that refers to it, in the form "the [subject] stated in Article # (x) of [issuing body]'s Regulation Number R-#/year"; and
(e)
end with the stamp of the issuing body.
30.
A document may be published in English, in Dhivehi, or in both languages. Where a document is published in both languages, the English and Dhivehi texts shall not differ, and shall carry the same meaning, the same provisions and the same numbering. The Gazette Office shall not publish a document in both languages unless the two texts carry the same meaning. In the Dhivehi text of a document, the types of documents shall be named as stated in point 6 of this Order, and document numbers shall be written in the same form as in the English text.
31.
A document shall be submitted for publication by the issuing body to the Gazette Office at publish@gazette.csa, in its final form, signed and stamped, together with all its Appendices. A document to be published in both languages shall be submitted in both languages at the same time.
32.
The Gazette Office shall review every document submitted to it for compliance with this Order before publication, and:
(a)
where the document does not comply with this Order, shall return it to the issuing body, stating each matter that does not comply; and
(b)
where the document complies with this Order, shall assign its number in accordance with point 18 of this Order and publish it on www.gazette.csa.
The Gazette Office shall not change the content of a document submitted to it. The date of publication of a document is the date on which it is published on www.gazette.csa.
33.
A document shall come into force on the date of its publication, unless the document states a later date. A document shall not have effect before the date of its publication, unless the document expressly states otherwise.
34.
The Gazette Office shall maintain a Gazette Register of every document published in the CSA Gazette, which shall be available to the public on www.gazette.csa. The Gazette Register shall record, for every document, its type, number, title, issuing body, date of publication, date of commencement and status. The status of a document shall be recorded as:
(a)
"In Force", where the document is in effect and has not been amended;
(b)
"Amended", where the document is in effect and has been amended; or
(c)
"Repealed", where the document has been repealed or has ceased to have effect.
35.
A clerical or typographical error in a published document, and a difference between the English and Dhivehi texts of a document, shall be corrected by a Notice issued by the issuing body. The Notice shall state the document, the provision and the text being corrected, together with the corrected text. A correction shall not change the intended meaning or effect of a document. A change to the meaning or effect of a document shall be made only by an amendment under point 36 of this Order.
36.
Except as stated in this point, a document shall be amended or repealed only by a document of the same type, issued by the body that issued the document being amended or repealed. An Act shall be amended or repealed in the same manner in which an Act is issued under point 7 of this Order at the time of the amendment or repeal. An amendment shall state each provision and Appendix that is added, changed or removed, and a document that has been amended shall be read together with all its amendments. A Notice shall not be amended, and may be withdrawn or replaced only by a new Notice of the issuing body.
37.
A document shall cease to have effect on the date on which its repeal comes into force. Where a document is repealed, every document created under its enabling provisions shall cease to have effect on the same date, unless the repealing document states that it shall remain in force. A document that remains in force under this point shall continue to have effect until it is repealed.
38.
This Order shall come into force on the date of its publication in the CSA Gazette.

This Order was issued on 07 November 2026 at The Director's Office, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Enzo Hernandez

Director