diff --git a/PyRIGS/decorators.py b/PyRIGS/decorators.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5e4e613d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/PyRIGS/decorators.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+from django.contrib.auth import REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME
+from django.shortcuts import render_to_response
+from django.template import RequestContext
+from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect
+
+def user_passes_test_with_403(test_func, login_url=None):
+    """
+    Decorator for views that checks that the user passes the given test.
+    
+    Anonymous users will be redirected to login_url, while users that fail
+    the test will be given a 403 error.
+    """
+    if not login_url:
+        from django.conf import settings
+        login_url = settings.LOGIN_URL
+    def _dec(view_func):
+        def _checklogin(request, *args, **kwargs):
+            if test_func(request.user):
+                return view_func(request, *args, **kwargs)
+            elif not request.user.is_authenticated():
+                return HttpResponseRedirect('%s?%s=%s' % (login_url, REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME, request.get_full_path()))
+            else:
+                resp = render_to_response('403.html', context_instance=RequestContext(request))
+                resp.status_code = 403
+                return resp
+        _checklogin.__doc__ = view_func.__doc__
+        _checklogin.__dict__ = view_func.__dict__
+        return _checklogin
+    return _dec
+
+def permission_required_with_403(perm, login_url=None):
+    """
+    Decorator for views that checks whether a user has a particular permission
+    enabled, redirecting to the log-in page or rendering a 403 as necessary.
+    """
+    return user_passes_test_with_403(lambda u: u.has_perm(perm), login_url=login_url)
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