Provisional Order
an order granted, under the powers conferred by an act of Parliament, by a department of the government, by the Secretary of State, or by some other authority, whereby certain things are authorized to be done which could be accomplished otherwise only by an act of Parliament. The order does not receive effect, however, till it has been confirmed by the Leg ture. Till that time it is purely provisional; and even after it has been so confirmed and is in reality an independent act, it retains the title of a provisional order. Provisional orders are most useful in facilitating the modification or extension of the provisions of the Legislaaservice, to carry out sentences of military law. Formerly they had powers of immediate punishment on the commission of offenses against published orders; but now they can only arrest, and detain for trial, offenders, and carry the punishments awarded by court-martial into effect. place.