The ''loi-cadre'' (Reform Act) was a French legal reform passed by the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are kn ...

on 23 June 1956, named after Overseas minister

Gaston Defferre Gaston Defferre (14 September 1910 – 7 May 1986) was a French Socialist politician. He served as mayor of Marseille for 33 years until his death in 1986. He was minister for overseas territories in Guy Mollet’s socialist government in 1956� ...

. It marked a turning point in relations between France and its overseas empire. Under pressure from independence movements in the colonies, the government transferred a number of powers from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to elected territorial governments in French African colonies and also removed remaining voting inequalities by implementing

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

and abolishing the multiple electoral college system. It was the first step in the creation of the

French Community The French Community (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...

, comparable to the British

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

. Most French African colonies held elections under the new universal suffrage ''Loi Cadre'' system on 31 March 1957, the exceptions being

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

which held its election on 23 December 1956, and

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

which held its election on 17 April 1958. (Cameroon and Togo were

United Nations trust territories United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Nati ...

and so were on a different trajectory than the rest of French Africa).

External links

Modern History Sourcebook: France: The "Loi-Cadre" of June 23, 1956
Internet Modern History Sourcebook at fordham.edu Law of France French colonial empire 1956 in France 1956 in law {{Europe-law-stub