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The politics of France take place with the framework of a
semi-presidential system A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has ...
determined by the French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible,
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
, democratic, and social
Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
". The constitution provides for a
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typi ...
and proclaims France's "attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of National Sovereignty as defined by the Declaration of 1789". The political system of
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
consists of an
executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems ...
, a
legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
, and a
judicial branch The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
. Executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
. The Government consists of the
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
and ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, and is responsible to Parliament. The
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
, including the Prime Minister, can be revoked by the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
, the lower house of Parliament, through a "censure motion"; this ensures that the Prime Minister is always supported by a majority of the lower house (which, on most topics, has prominence over the upper house). Parliament consists of the National Assembly and the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. It passes statutes and votes on the budget; it controls the action of the executive through formal questioning on the floor of the houses of Parliament and by establishing commissions of inquiry. The constitutionality of the statutes is checked by the Constitutional Council, members of which are appointed by the President of the Republic, the President of the National Assembly, and the
President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...
. Former presidents of the Republic can also be members of the council if they want to (Valéry Giscard-d’Estaing et Jacques Chirac were the only former Presidents that participated into the council’s work) The independent judiciary is based upon civil law system which evolved from the Napoleonic Codes. It is divided into the judicial branch (dealing with civil law and
criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...
) and the administrative branch (dealing with appeals against executive decisions), each with their own independent supreme court of appeal: the
Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
for the judicial courts and the '' Conseil d'Etat'' for the administrative courts. The French government includes various bodies that check abuses of power and independent agencies. While France is a
unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only th ...
, its administrative subdivisions— regions,
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
and communes—have various legal functions, and the national government is prohibited from intruding into their normal operations. France was a founding member of the
European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemb ...
, later the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
. As such, France has transferred part of its
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
to European institutions, as provided by its constitution. The French government therefore has to abide by European treaties, directives and
regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...
. The
Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...
has described France as a "flawed democracy" in 2020.


Constitution

A popular
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
approved the constitution of the French Fifth Republic in 1958, greatly strengthening the authority of the presidency and the executive with respect to Parliament. The constitution does not contain a bill of rights in itself, but its preamble mentions that France should follow the principles of the ''
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revol ...
'', as well as those of the preamble to the constitution of the Fourth Republic. This has been judged to imply that the principles laid forth in those texts have constitutional value, and that legislation infringing on those principles should be found unconstitutional if a recourse is filed before the Constitutional Council. Also, recent modifications of the Constitution have added a reference in the preamble to an Environment charter that has full constitutional value, and a right for citizens to contest the constitutionality of a statute before the Constitutional Council. The foundational principles of the constitution include: the equality of all citizens before law, and the rejection of special class privileges such as those that existed prior to the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
;
presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must presen ...
;
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
;
freedom of opinion Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogn ...
including
freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...
; the guarantee of property against arbitrary seizure; the accountability of government agents to the citizenry.


Executive branch

France has a
semi-presidential system A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has ...
of government, with both a
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and a
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
. The Prime Minister is responsible to the
French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...
. A presidential candidate is required to obtain a nationwide majority of non-blank votes at either the first or second round of balloting, which implies that the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
is somewhat supported by at least half of the voting population. As a consequence, the President of France is the pre-eminent figure in French politics. He appoints the Prime Minister. Though the President may not ''de jure'' dismiss the Prime Minister, nevertheless, if the Prime Minister is from the same political side, they can, in practice, have them resign on demand. (De Gaulle is said to have initiated this practice "by requiring undated letters of resignation from his nominees to the premiership," though more recent Presidents have not necessarily used this method.) The President appoints the ministers, ministers-delegate and secretaries. When the President's political party or supporters control parliament, the President is the ''dominant'' player in executive action, choosing whomever he wishes for the government, and having it follow ''his'' political agenda (parliamentary disagreements do occur, though, even within the same party). However, when the President's political opponents control parliament, the President's dominance can be severely limited, as they must choose a Prime Minister and government who reflect the majority in parliament, and who may implement the agenda of the parliamentary majority. When parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum control parliament and the presidency, the power-sharing arrangement is known as cohabitation. Before 2002, ''cohabitation'' occurred more commonly, because the term of the President was seven years and the term of the National Assembly was five years. With the term of the President shortened to five years, and with the presidential and parliamentary elections separated by only a few months, this is less likely to happen.
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
became president on 14 May 2017, succeeding
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...
. In the 2022 presidential election president Macron was re-elected after beating his far-right rival,
Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its ...
, in the runoff. He was the first re-elected incumbent French president since 2002.


Government

The Prime Minister
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
s the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
, which comprises junior and senior ministers. It has at its disposal the
civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
, government agencies, and the
armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
.Constitution, article 20 The government is responsible to Parliament, and the National Assembly may pass a motion of censure, forcing the resignation of the government. This, in practice, forces the government to reflect the same political party or coalition which has the majority in the Assembly. Ministers have to answer questions from members of Parliament, both written and oral; this is known as the ''questions au gouvernement'' ("questions to the government"). In addition, ministers attend meetings of the houses of Parliament when laws pertaining to their areas of responsibility are being discussed.
Government ministers A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...
cannot pass legislation without parliamentary approval, though the Prime Minister may issue autonomous regulations or subordinated regulations (''décrets d'application'') provided they do not infringe on the Parliament domain, as detailed in the constitution. Ministers, however, can propose legislation to Parliament; since the Assembly is usually politically allied to the ministers, such legislation is, in general, very likely to pass. However, this is not guaranteed, and, on occasion, the opinion of the majority parliamentarians may differ significantly from those of the executive, which often results in a large number of amendments. The Prime Minister can engage the responsibility of his government on a law, under article 49-3 of the Constitution. The law is then considered adopted unless the National Assembly votes a motion of censure, in which case the law is refused and the government has to resign. , the use of this article was the " First Employment Contract" proposed by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, a move that greatly backfired. Traditionally, the government comprises members of three ranks. Ministers are the most senior members of the government; deputy ministers (''ministres délégués'') assist ministers in particular areas of their portfolio; ministers of state (''secrétaires d'État'') assist ministers in less important areas, and attend government meetings only occasionally. Before the founding of the Fifth Republic in 1958, some ministers of particular political importance were called "secretaries of state" (''ministres d'État''); the practice has continued under the Fifth Republic in a purely honorific fashion: ministers styled "Secretary of State" are of higher importance in the ''gouvernement''. The number of ministries and the division of responsibilities and administrations between them varies from government to government. While the name and exact responsibility of each ministry may change, one generally finds at least: * Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Employment (taxes, budget) *
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...
(law enforcement, relationships with local governments) * Ministry of Justice and Keeper of the Seals (prisons, running the court system, supervision of the prosecution service) * Ministry of National Education *
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
*
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...
*
Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ...
(For more on French ministries, see French government ministers.) The government has a leading role in shaping the agenda of the houses of Parliament. It may propose laws to Parliament, as well as amendments during parliamentary meetings. It may make use of some procedures to speed up parliamentary deliberations. The government holds weekly meetings (usually on Wednesday mornings), chaired by the President, at the
Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (french: Palais de l'Élysée; ) is the official residence of the President of the French Republic. Completed in 1722, it was built for nobleman and army officer Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, who had been appointed Gove ...
. Following the election of
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
as president, Édouard Philippe became French Prime Minister on 15 May 2017. The current French Prime Minister is Élisabeth Borne since 16 May 2022.


Statutory instruments and delegated legislation

The French executive has a limited power to establish regulation or legislation. (See
below Below may refer to: *Earth * Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname *Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general *Fred Below ...
for how such regulations or legislative items interact with statute law.)


Decrees and other executive decisions

Only the President and Prime Minister sign
decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...
s (''décrets''), which are akin to US
executive orders ''Executive Orders'' is a techno-thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on July 1, 1996. It picks up immediately where the final events of '' Debt of Honor'' (1994) left off, and features now- U.S. President Jack Ryan as he tries t ...
. Decrees can only be taken following certain procedures and with due respect to the constitution and statute law. * The President signs decrees appointing and dismissing most senior civil and military servants, for positions listed in the Constitution or in statutes. He also signs decrees establishing some regulations (''décrets en conseil des ministres''). All such decrees must be countersigned by the Prime Minister and the ministers concerned. * The Prime Minister signs decrees establishing
regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. ...
s, which the concerned ministers countersign. In some areas, they constitute
primary legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democ ...
, in some others they must be subordinate to an existing
statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by ...
. In some cases, statutes impose a compulsory advisory review by the '' Conseil d'État'' (''décrets en Conseil d'État''), as opposed to ''décrets simples''. The individual ministers issue ministerial orders (''arrêtés'') in their fields of competence, subordinate to statutes and decrees. Contrary to a sometimes used polemical ''
cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
'', that dates from the
French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...
of 1870–1940, with its decrees-law (''décrets-lois''), neither the President nor the Prime Minister may
rule by decree Rule by decree is a style of governance allowing quick, unchallenged promulgation of law by a single person or group. It allows the ruler to make or change laws without legislative approval. While intended to allow rapid responses to a crisis, rule ...
(outside of the narrow case of presidential emergency powers).


Ordinances

The executive cannot issue decrees in areas that the Constitution puts under the responsibility of legislation, issued by Parliament. Still, Parliament may, through a habilitation law, authorize the executive to issue ordinances (''ordonnances''), with legislative value, in precisely-defined areas. Habilitation laws specify the scope of the ordinance. After the ordinance is issued, the government has to propose a ratifying bill in order that the ordinance becomes a law. If Parliament votes "no" to ratification, the ordinance is cancelled. Most of the time, ratification is made implicitly or explicitly through a Parliament act that deals with the subject concerned, rather than by the ratification act itself. The use of ordinances is normally reserved for urgent matters, or for technical, uncontroversial texts (such as the ordinances that converted all sums in
French Franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...
s to
Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s in the various laws in force in France). There is also a practice of using ordinances to transpose European Directives into French law, to avoid late transposition of Directives, which happens often and is criticized by the
EU Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
. Ordinances are also used to codify law into codes – to rearrange them for the sake of clarity without substantially modifying them. They are also sometimes used to push controversial legislation through, such as when Prime Minister
Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...
created new forms of work contracts in 2005. The opposition then criticizes the use of ordinances in such contexts as anti-democratic and demeaning to Parliament. Note however that since the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
can dismiss the government through a motion of censure, the government necessarily relies on a majority in Parliament, and this majority would be likely to adopt the controversial law anyway.


Internal limits of the executive branch; checks and balances

The general rule is that government agencies and the civil service are at the disposal of the government. However, various agencies are independent agencies (''autorités administratives indépendantes'') that have been statutorily excluded from the executive's authority, although they belong in the executive branch. These independent agencies have some specialized regulatory power, some executive power, and some quasi-judicial power. They are also often consulted by the government or the French Parliament seeking advice before regulating by law. They can impose sanctions that are named "administrative sanctions" ''sanctions administratives''. However, their decisions can still be contested in a judicial court or in an administrative court. Some examples of independent agencies: * The ''
Banque de France The Bank of France (French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the ...
'', the central bank, is independent (financial and economic code, L141 and following). This was a prerequisite for integrating the
European System of Central Banks The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) is an institution that comprises the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks (NCBs) of all 27 member states of the European Union (EU). Its objective is to ensure price stability ...
. * The Electronic Communications & Posts Regulation Authority (''Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (ARCEP)''), which was previously named Telecommunication Regulation Authority (''Autorité de régulation des télécommunications (ART)''), is an ''independent administrative authority'' for the open markets of telecommunications and postal services. * The Energy Regulation Commission (''Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE)'') is an ''independent administrative authority'' for the open markets of gas and electricity. * The Financial Markets Authority (''Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)'') regulates securities markets. * The Higher Council of the Audiovisual (''Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA)'') supervises the granting and withdrawing of emission frequencies for
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...
and
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
, as well as
public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
. * The National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (''Commission Nationale des Comptes de Campagne et des Financements Politiques'') regulates the financing and spending of political parties and political campaigning. Public media corporations should not be influenced in their news reporting by the executive in power, since they have the duty to supply the public with unbiased information. For instance, the
Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, ...
(AFP) is an independent public corporation. Its resources must come solely from its commercial sales. The majority of the seats in its board are held by representatives of the French press. The government also provides for watchdogs over its own activities; these independent administrative authorities are headed by a commission typically composed of senior lawyers or of members of the Parliament. Each of the two chambers of the Parliament often has its own commission, but sometimes they collaborate to create a single ''Commission nationale mixte paritaire''. For example: * The National Commission for Computing & Freedom (''Commission nationale informatique et libertés (CNIL)''); public services must request authorization from it before establishing a file with personal information, and they must heed its recommendations; private bodies must only declare their files; citizens have recourse before the commission against abuses. * The National Commission for the Control of Security Interceptions (''Commission nationale de contrôle des interceptions de sécurité (CNCIS)''); the executive, in a limited number of circumstances concerning national security, may request an authorization from the commission for wiretaps (in other circumstances, wiretaps may only be authorized within a judicially-administered criminal investigation). In addition, the duties of public service limit the power that the executive has over the French Civil Service. For instance, appointments, except for the highest positions (the national directors of agencies and administrations), must be made solely on merit (typically determined in competitive exams) or on time in office. Certain civil servants have statuses that prohibit executive interference; for instance,
judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
s and
prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...
s may be named or moved only according to specific procedures. Public researchers and university professors enjoy
academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teach ...
; by law, they enjoy complete freedom of speech within the ordinary constraints of academia.


Some important directorates and establishments

The government also provides specialized agencies for regulating critical markets or limited resources, and markets set up by regulations. Although, as part of the ''administration'', they are subordinate to the ministers, they often act with a high degree of independence. * The General Directorate of Competition, Consumption & Repression of Frauds (''Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF)'') regulates and controls the legality and safety of products and services available on the markets open to competition for all
economic actor Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes w ...
s and private consumers, and can deliver administrative ''sanctions'' in case of abuses. * The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (''Direction générale de l'aviation civile (DGAC)'') regulates the traffic in the national air space and delivers the authorizations for airways companies and other private or public organizations and people. * The National Agency for Employment (''Agence nationale pour l'emploi (ANPE)'') maintained a public registry for the allocation of social benefits to unemployed people (but a single registry is shared with the independent ''ASSEDIC'' paying them, a joint association of employers and workers unions), assists them as well as employers seeking people, and controls them. The French State names its general director and the Parliament provides for its finances and personnel, but it only fills one-third of the seats at its decision board of directors (the other seats are shared equally by unions of employers and of workers). ANPE and Assédic merged in to form
Pôle emploi Pôle emploi (; English: ''employment centre'') is a French governmental agency which registers unemployed people, helps them find jobs and provides them with financial aid. The agency was created in 2008, resulting from the merger between the AN ...
. * The National Agency of Frequencies (''Agence nationale des fréquences (ANFR)''), a public establishment of an administrative character, regulates and maintains the allocation of radio frequency spectrum resources along with other international frequencies regulators and national regulators (the ARCOM (ex-CSA) and ARCEP) or public ministries, controls the operators on the national territory, and publishes compliance standards for manufacturers of radioelectric equipment.


Organization of government services

Each ministry has a central administration (''administration centrale''), generally divided into directorates. These directorates are usually subdivided into divisions or sub-directorates. Each directorate is headed by a director, named by the President in Council. The central administration largely stays the same, regardless of the political tendency of the executive in power. In addition, each minister has a private office, which is composed of members whose nomination is politically determined, called the ''cabinet''. Cabinets are quite important and employ numbers of highly qualified staff to follow all administrative and political affairs. They are powerful, and have been sometimes considered as a parallel administration, especially (but not only) in all matters that are politically sensitive. Each ''cabinet'' is led by a chief-of-staff entitled ''directeur de cabinet''. The state also has distributive services spread throughout French territory, often reflecting divisions into '' régions'' or '' départements''. The
prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...
, the representative of the national government in each ''région'' or ''département'', supervises the activities of the distributive services in his or her jurisdiction. Generally, the services of a certain administration in a ''région'' or ''département'' are managed by a high-level civil servant, often called director, but not always; for instance, the services of the ''
Trésor public The Trésor public ( en, Public treasury) is the national administration of the Treasury in France. It is headed by the general directorate of public finances (''Direction générale des finances publiques'') in the Ministry of the Economy, Finan ...
'' (Treasury) in each ''département'' are headed by a treasurer-paymaster general, appointed by the President of the Republic. In the last several decades, the departmental ''conseil général'' (see "Local Government" below) has taken on new responsibilities and plays an important role in administrating government services at the local level. The government also maintains public establishments. These have a relative administrative and financial autonomy, to accomplish a defined mission. They are attached to one or more supervising authorities. These are classified into several categories: * public establishments of an administrative character, including, for instance: ** universities, and most public establishments of higher education ** establishments of a research and technical character, such as
CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...
or
INRIA The National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria) () is a French national research institution focusing on computer science and applied mathematics. It was created under the name ''Institut de recherche en informatiq ...
* public establishments of an industrial and commercial character, including, for instance, CEA and
Ifremer IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer; ) is an oceanographic institution in Brest, France. Scope of works Ifremer focuses its research activities in the following areas: * Monitoring, use and enhancement of co ...
Note that in administrations and public establishments of an administrative character operate under public law, while establishments of an industrial and commercial character operate mostly under private law. In consequence, in the former, permanent personnel are civil servants, while normally in the latter, they are contract employees. In addition, the government owns and controls all, or the majority, of shares of some companies, like '' Electricité de France'', ''
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic ...
'' or ''
Areva Areva S.A. is a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through the French Alternative Energies and Atom ...
''.
Social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
organizations, though established by statute and controlled and supervised by the state, are not operated nor directly controlled by the national government. Instead, they are managed by the "social partners" (''partenaires sociaux'') – unions of employers such as the MEDEF and unions of employees. Their budget is separate from the national budget.


Shadow Cabinet of France

A Shadow Cabinet is sometimes formed by the opposition parties in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
, though this is uncommon.


Legislative branch

The Parliament of France, making up the
legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
, consists of two houses: the National Assembly and the Senate; the National Assembly is the pre-eminent body. Parliament meets for one nine-month session each year: under special circumstances the President can call an additional session. Although parliamentary powers have diminished from those existing under the Fourth Republic, the National Assembly can still cause a government to fall if an absolute majority of the total Assembly membership votes to censure. It happened once under the 5th Republic: in 1962 when the parliamentary majority of the time voted a motion of censure against the government of George Pompidou. The government has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament. The government also can link its term to a legislative text which it proposes, and unless a motion of censure is introduced (within 24 hours after the proposal) and passed (within 48 hours of introductionthus full procedures last at most 72 hours), the text is considered adopted without a vote.
Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
enjoy
parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...
. Both assemblies have committees that write reports on a variety of topics. If necessary, they can establish parliamentary enquiry commissions with broad investigative power.


National Assembly

The National Assembly is the principal legislative body. Its 577 deputies are directly elected for five-year terms in local majority votes, and all seats are voted on in each election. The National Assembly may force the resignation of the government by voting a motion of censure. For this reason, the Prime Minister and their government are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the assembly. In the case of a president and assembly from opposing parties, this leads to the situation known as '' cohabitation''. While motions of censure are periodically proposed by the opposition following government actions that it deems highly inappropriate, they are purely rhetorical; party discipline ensures that, throughout a parliamentary term, the government is never overthrown by the Assembly.


Latest election


Senate

Senators are chosen by an electoral college of about 165,000 local elected officials for six-year terms, and half of the Senate is renewed every three years. Before the law of 30 July 2004, senators were elected for nine years, renewed by thirds every three years. There are currently 348 senators: 326 represent the metropolitan and overseas '' départements'', 10 the other dependencies and 12 the French established abroad. The Senate's legislative powers are limited; on most matters of legislation, the National Assembly has the last word in the event of a disagreement between the two houses. Since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, the Senate has almost always had a right-wing majority. This is mostly due to the over-representation of small villages compared to big cities. This, and the indirect mode of election, prompted socialist Lionel Jospin, who was Prime Minister at the time, to declare the Senate an "anomaly".


Legislation adoption procedures

Statute legislation may be proposed by the government (council of ministers), or by members of Parliament. In the first case, it is a ''projet de loi''; in the latter case, a ''proposition de loi''. All ''projets de loi'' must undergo compulsory advisory review by the '' Conseil d'État'' before being submitted to parliament.Constitution, article 39 Since 2009, the bill submitted to Parliament must also come with a study of the possible impact of the law: other possible options, interactions with European law, economical, social, financial and environmental consequences. ''Propositions de loi'' cannot increase the financial load of the state without providing for funding. ''Projets de loi'' start in the house of the government's choice (except in some narrow cases). ''Propositions de loi'' start in the house where they originated. After the house has amended and voted on the text, it is sent to the other house, which can also amend it. If the houses do not choose to adopt the text in identical terms, it is sent before a commission made of equal numbers of members of both houses, which tries to harmonize the text. If it does not manage to do so, the National Assembly can vote the text and have the final say on it (except for laws related to the organization of the Senate). The law is then sent to the President of France for signature.Constitution, article 10 At this point, the President of France, the speaker of either house or a delegation of 60 deputies or 60 senators can ask for the text to undergo constitutional review before being put into force; it is then sent before the Constitutional Council. The President can also, only once per law and with the countersigning of the Prime Minister, send the law back to parliament for another review. Otherwise, the President must sign the law. After being countersigned by the Prime Minister and the concerned ministers, it is then sent to the '' Journal Officiel'' for publication.


Budget

Financing Acts (''lois de finances'') and the Social Security Financing Acts (''lois de financement de la sécurité sociale'') are special Acts of Parliament voted and approved through specific procedures. Because of the importance of allowing government and social security organizations to proceed with the payment of their suppliers, employees, and recipients, without risk of a being stopped by parliamentary discord, these bills are specially constrained. In the past, parliamentarians would often add unrelated amendments (''cavaliers budgétaires'') to the finance bills, to get such amendments passed – because of the reduced time in which the budget is examined. However, these are nowadays considered unconstitutional. If Parliament cannot agree on a budget within some specified reasonable bounds, the government is entitled to adopt a budget through ordinances: this threat prevents parliamentarians from threatening to bankrupt the executive. The way the Finance Bill is organized, and the way the government has to execute the budget, were deeply reformed in 2001 by the ''Loi organique n°2001-692 du 1er août 2001 relative aux lois de finances'', generally known as the LOLF. Because of the major changes involved, the application of the law was gradual, and the first budget to be fully passed under LOLF will be the 2006 budget, passed in late 2005. The LOLF divides expenses according to identifiable "missions" (which can be subdivided into sub-missions etc.). The performance of the administration and public bodies will be evaluated with respect to these missions. The budget of the national government was forecast to be 290 billion
Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
in 2011. This includes neither
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
, nor the budgets of
local governments Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
.


Multiple offices

:''See cumul des mandats'' It has long been customary for Parliament members to hold, in addition to the office of deputy or senator, another local office such as city mayor, hence titles like "Deputy and Mayor" (''député-maire'') and "Senator and Mayor" (''sénateur-maire''). This is known as the ''cumul'' of electoral offices. Proponents of the ''cumul'' allege that having local responsibilities ensures that members of parliament stay in contact with the reality of their constituency; also, they are said to be able to defend the interest of their city etc. better by having a seat in parliament. In recent years, the ''cumul'' has been increasingly criticized. Critics contend that lawmakers that also have some local mandate cannot be assiduous to both tasks; for instance, they may neglect their duties to attend parliamentary sittings and commission in order to attend to tasks in their constituency. The premise that holders of dual office can defend the interest of their city etc. in the National Parliament is criticized in that national lawmakers should have the national interest in their mind, not the advancement of the projects of the particular city they are from. Finally, this criticism is part of a wider criticism of the political class as a cozy, closed world in which the same people make a long career from multiple positions. As a consequence, laws that restrict the possibilities of having multiple mandates have been enacted.


Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council is a consultative assembly. It does not play a role in the adoption of statutes and regulations, but advises the lawmaking bodies on questions of social and economic policies. The executive may refer any question or proposal of social or economic importance to the Economic and Social Council. The Economic and Social Council publishes reports, which are sent to the Prime Minister, the National Assembly and the Senate. They are published in the '' Journal Official''.


Judicial branch

French law provides for a separate judicial branch with an independent judiciary which does not answer to or is directly controlled by the other two branches of government. France has a civil law legal system, the basis of which is codified law; however, case law plays a significant role in the determination of the courts. The most distinctive feature of the French judicial system is that it is divided into judicial and administrative streams.


Judicial courts

The judicial stream of courts adjudicates civil and criminal cases. The judicial court stream consists of inferior courts, intermediate
appellate courts A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
, and the French
Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
, the supreme court. Judges are government employees but are granted special statutory protection from the executive. Judges have security of tenure and may not be promoted (or demoted) without their consent. Their careers are overseen by the Judicial Council of France. The public prosecutors, on the other hand, take orders from the Minister of Justice. In the past, this has bred suspicion of undue political pressure to dismiss suits or claims against government officials charged with corruption, and the status of public prosecutors and their ties to government are frequently topics of debate. Trial by
jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England d ...
is available only for severe criminal cases, which are the jurisdiction of the Courts of Assizes. A full Court is made up of a 3-judge panel and a petty jury of 9 jurors (vs. 12 jurors on appeal), who, together, render verdicts, and if a conviction is handed down, also determine a sentence. Jurors are selected at random from eligible voters. In most other courts, judges are professional, except that the criminal court for minors is composed of one professional and two lay judges. Also, several specialty courts of original jurisdiction are sat by judges who are elected into office. For instance, labor tribunals are staffed with an equal number of magistrates from employers' unions and employees' unions. The same applies to land estate tribunals. Pre-trial proceedings are inquisitorial by nature, but open court proceedings are adversarial. The burden of proof in criminal proceedings is on the prosecution, and the accused is constitutionally presumed innocent until proven guilty.


Administrative courts

Courts of administrative law adjudicate on claims and suits against government offices and agencies. The administrative stream is made up of administrative courts, courts of administrative appeal, and the
Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
as the court of last resort. The Council of State hears cases against executive branch decisions and has the power to quash or set aside executive-issued statutory instruments such as orders and regulations when they violate constitutional law, enacted legislation, or codified law. Court proceedings mostly involve written hearings and are inquisitorial, with judges having the parties submit written testimony or arguments. Any jurisdictional dispute between the judicial and administrative streams are settled by a special court called ''Tribunal des conflits'', or "Court of Jurisdictional Dispute", composed of an equal number of Supreme Court justices and councillors of State.


Constitutional Council

Neither judicial nor administrative courts are empowered to rule on the
constitutionality Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
of acts of Parliament. While technically not part of the judicial branch, the Constitutional Council examines legislation and decides whether or not it violates the Constitution. This applies, prior to their enactment, to all forms of organic laws, but only by referral from the French President,
President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...
, President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, or any of the 60 senators or 60 assembly members of the other types of laws or treaties. After their enactment, laws can all be reviewed by referral from the highest administrative court, the Conseil d'Etat, or by the highest judicial court, the Cour de Cassation. The Constitutional Council may declare acts to be unconstitutional, even if they contradict the principles of the 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revol ...
(cited in the Preamble of the Constitution). Council members to the Constitutional Council are appointed for nine years (three every three years); three are appointed by the President, three by the President of the National Assembly, and three by the President of the Senate. The former presidents are also members for life of the Constitutional Council.


Financial courts

France's main Court of Audit (''
Cour des Comptes The ''Cour des Comptes'' ("Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 an ...
'') and regional audit courts audit government finances, public institutions (including other courts), and public entities. The court publishes an annual report and can refer criminal matters to public prosecutors. It can also directly fine public accountants for mishandling funds, and refer civil servants who misused funds to the Court of Financial and Budgetary Discipline. The main and regional audit courts do not judge the accountants of private organizations. However, in some circumstances, they may audit their accounting, especially when an organization has been awarded a government contract over a public utility or a service requiring the permanent use of the public domain or if an organization is a bidder on a government contract. The Court is often solicitated by various state agencies, parliamentary commissions, and public regulators, but it can also petitioned to act by any French citizen or organization operating in France. The Court's finances are overseen by financial commissions of the two Houses of the French Parliament which also set the Court's working budget in the annual Act of finances.


Ombudsman

In 1973 the position of ''médiateur de la République'' (the Republic's
ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
) was created. The ombudsman is charged with solving, without the need to a recourse before the courts, the disagreements between citizens and the administrations and other entities charged with a mission of a public service; proposing reforms to the Government and the administrations to further these goals; and actively participating in the international promotion of
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
. The ombudsman is appointed for a period of 6 years by the President of the Republic in the Council of Ministers. He cannot be removed from office and is protected for his official actions by an immunity similar to
parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...
. He does not receive or accept orders from any authority. The current ombudsman is
Jean-Paul Delevoye Jean-Paul Delevoye (born 22 January 1947) is a French politician. Political career After having worked in the food industry, he began his political career as a village councilman in 1974. Since 1982, he is the mayor of Bapaume, a small town in ...
.


French law


Basic principles

France uses a civil law system; that is, law arises primarily from written statutes; judges are not to make law, but merely to interpret it (though the amount of judge interpretation in certain areas makes it equivalent to
case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of ...
). Many fundamental principles of French Law were laid in the Napoleonic Codes. Basic principles of the
rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannic ...
were laid in the Napoleonic Code: laws can only address the future and not the past ( ex post facto laws are prohibited); to be applicable, laws must have been officially published (see '' Journal Officiel''). In agreement with the principles of the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revol ...
, the general rule is that of freedom, and law should only prohibit actions detrimental to society. As Guy Canivet, first president of the
Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
, said about what should be the rule in French law:Guy Canivet was saying how the rules governing prisons disregarded the basic rule of law that liberty is the general case and prohibition the exception. See Jacques Floch
Report of the enquiry commission of the French national assembly on the situation in French prisons
:''Freedom is the rule, and its restriction is the exception; any restriction of Freedom must be provided for by Law and must follow the principles of necessity and proportionality.'' That is, law may lay out prohibitions only if they are needed, and if the inconveniences caused by this restriction do not exceed the inconveniences that the prohibition is supposed to remedy. France does not recognize
religious law Religious law includes ethical and moral codes taught by religious traditions. Different religious systems hold sacred law in a greater or lesser degree of importance to their belief systems, with some being explicitly antinomian whereas othe ...
, nor does it recognize religious beliefs as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions. As a consequence, France has long had neither
blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...
laws nor sodomy laws (the latter being abolished in 1789).


Statutory law versus executive regulations

French law differentiates between legislative acts (''loi''), generally passed by the
legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
, and
regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. ...
s (''règlement'', instituted by ''décrets''), issued by the Prime Minister. There also exist secondary regulation called ''arrêtés'', issued by ministers, subordinates acting in their names, or local authorities; these may only be taken in areas of competency and within the scope delineated by primary legislation. There are also more and more regulations issued by independent agencies, especially relating to economic matters. According to the Constitution of France (article 34): Statutes shall concern: *
Civic rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...
and the fundamental guarantees granted to citizens for the exercise of their
public liberties In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
; the obligations imposed for the purposes of
national defence National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attac ...
upon citizens in respect of their persons and their
property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
; * Nationality, the status and legal capacity of persons, matrimonial regimes,
inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Of ...
and gifts; * The determination of serious
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...
s and other major offences and the penalties applicable to them;
criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail o ...
;
amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
; the establishment of new classes of
court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
s and tribunals and the regulations governing the members of the
judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
; * The base, rates and methods of collection of taxes of all types; the issue of
currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...
. Statutes shall likewise determine the rules concerning: * The
electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has oper ...
systems of parliamentary assemblies and local assemblies; * The creation of categories of public establishments; * The fundamental guarantees granted to civil and military personnel employed by the State; * The
nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
of enterprises and transfers of ownership in enterprises from the public to the private sector. Statutes shall determine the fundamental principles of: * The general organization of national defence; * The self-government of territorial units, their powers and their resources; *
Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
; * The regime governing ownership, rights in rem, and civil and commercial obligations; *
Labour law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
,
trade-union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
law and
social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
. Finance Acts shall determine the resources and obligations of the State in the manner and with the reservations specified in an institutional Act. Social Security Finance Acts shall determine the general conditions for the financial balance of Social Security and, in light of their revenue forecasts, shall determine expenditure targets in the manner and with the reservations specified in an institutional Act. Programme Acts shall determine the objectives of the economic and social action of the State. The provisions of this article may be enlarged upon and complemented by an organic law. Other areas are matters of
regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. ...
. This separation between law and regulation is enforced by the ''Conseil constitutionnel'': the government can, with the agreement of the ''Conseil constitutionnel'', modify by decrees the laws that infringe on the domain of regulations. At the same, the ''Conseil d'État'' nullifies decrees that infringe on the domain of the law.


Order of authority for sources of the law

When courts have to deal with incoherent texts, they apply a certain hierarchy: a text higher in the hierarchy will overrule a lower text. The general rule is that the Constitution is superior to laws which are superior to regulations. However, with the intervention of European law and international treaties, and the quasi-
case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of ...
of the administrative courts, the hierarchy may become somewhat unclear. The following hierarchy of norms should thus be taken with due caution: # French Constitution, including the basic core constitutional values recognized by the laws of the Republic as defined by the Constitutional Council; # European Union treaties and regulations; # International treaties and agreements; # organic laws; # ordinary laws; # executive orders (advised on by the Council of State); # other executive orders; # rules and regulations; #* of multiple ministers; #* of a single minister; #* of local authorities; # regulations and decisions by independent agencies.


Local government

Traditionally, decision-making in France is highly centralized, with each of France's
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
headed by a
prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...
appointed by the central government, in addition to the ''conseil général'', a locally elected council. However, in 1982, the national government passed legislation to decentralize authority by giving a wide range of administrative and fiscal powers to local elected officials. In March 1986, regional councils were directly elected for the first time, and the process of decentralization has continued, albeit at a slow pace. In March 2003, a constitutional revision has changed very significantly the legal framework towards a more decentralized system and has increased the powers of local governments. Albeit France is still one of the most centralized major countries in Europe and the world. Administrative units with a local government in
Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
(that is, the parts of France lying in Europe) consist of: * about 35,000 '' communes'', headed by a municipal council and a mayor, grouped in * 96 '' départements'', headed by a ''conseil général'' (general council) and its president, grouped in * 18 '' régions'', headed by a
regional council Regional Council may refer to: * Regional Council (Hong Kong), disbanded in 1999 ** Regional Council (constituency) Regional council may refer to: * Regional council (Cameroon) * Regional council (France), the elected assembly of a region of Fran ...
and its
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
. The ''conseil général'' is an institution created in 1790 by the French Revolution in each of the newly created departments (they were suppressed by the Vichy government from 1942 to 1944). A ''conseiller général'' (departmental councillor) must be at least 21 years old and either live or pay taxes in the locality they are elected from. (Sociologist Jean Viard noted 'Le Monde'', 22 Feb 2006that half of all ''conseillers généraux'' were still ''fils de paysans'', i.e. sons of peasants, suggesting France's deep rural roots). Though the central government can theoretically dissolve a ''conseil général'' (in case of a dysfunctional ''conseil''), this has happened only once in the Fifth Republic. The ''conseil général'' discusses and passes laws on matters that concern the department; it is administratively responsible for departmental employees and land, manages subsidized housing, public transportation, and school subsidies, and contributes to public facilities. It is not allowed to express "political wishes." The ''conseil général'' meets at least three times a year and elects its president for a term of 3 years, who presides over its "permanent commission," usually consisting of 5-10 other departmental councillors elected from among their number. The ''conseil général'' has accrued new powers in the course of the political decentralization that has occurred past in France during the past thirty years. There are in all more than 4,000 ''conseillers généraux'' in France. Different levels of administration have different duties, and shared responsibility is common; for instance, in the field of education, ''communes'' run public elementary schools, while ''départements'' run public junior high schools and ''régions'' run public high schools, but only for the building and upkeep of buildings; curricula and teaching personnel are supplied by the national Ministry of Education. The 3 main cities,
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 ...
,
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
and
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
have a special statute. Paris is at the same time a ''commune'' and a ''département'' with an institution, the ''Conseil de Paris'', that is elected at the same time as the other ''conseil municipaux'', but that operates also as a ''conseil général''. The 3 cities are also divided into ''arrondissement'' each having its ''conseil d'arrondissement'' and its mayor. French overseas possessions are divided into two groups: * Four overseas ''regions'', with some strong similarity of organization to their metropolitan counterparts; in these overseas regions all laws of France are automatically applicable, except if a specific text provides otherwise or provides some adaptation. The four ''régions'' are fully incorporated parts of the territory of the French Republic, and as such belong to the European Union, which means that European law is applicable; *
Territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
, generally having greater autonomy. In general, French laws are not applicable, except if a specific text provides otherwise. A new Territory was created in February 2007: Saint-Barthélemy. This Territory used to be part of the overseas department of Guadeloupe. The statute of Saint-Barthélemy provides the automatic application of French law, except mostly in the domain of taxes and immigration, which are left to the Territory. The Territories do not belong to the European Union. However, as "overseas territories" they have association agreements with the EU and may opt into some EU provisions. EU law applies to them only insofar is necessary to implement the association agreements. All inhabited French territory is represented in both houses of Parliament and votes for the presidential election.


References

''All texts in French unless otherwise noted.''


Specific


General

* Legal reference texts ** General reference **
General government web site with all texts, including some that are translated to English
** Constitution *** '' Constitution ed la République Française'' **
original text
**
official English translation
***
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (french: Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789, links=no), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French Revol ...
( French text, English translation) ** Rules of procedure *** Rules of procedure of the National Assembly (original text, English version) ** Justice *** ''Code civil'' (official English translation) *** ''Code des juridictions financières'' *** ''Code de procédure pénale'' (official English translation) *** ''Code de justice administrative'' ** Budget **
The LOLF
(official English translation) ** Ombudsman **

creating the position of the Ombudsman (updated version) ** Justice **
Civil Code, statutory part
**
Code of Civil Procedure, statutory part
(official English translation) **
Criminal Code, statutory part
official English translation) **
Code of Criminal Procedure, statutory part
(official English translation) **
Code of Administrative Justice, statutory part
* Official documentation ** General *** ''Vie publique : découverte des institutions'' *** ''Les pouvoirs publics. Textes essentiels 2005.'', '' La Documentation française'', ** Financial jurisdictions *** ''La Cour des Comptes'', The Court of Accounts ** Budget ***
Alain Lambert Alain Lambert (born 20 July 1946 in Alençon) is a French politician and a notary by profession. Lambert has been involved in politics since 1983 and has served as a local councillor in Alençon and a councillor on both the department council of ...
, Didier Migaud, ''Réussir la LOLF, clé d'une gestion publique responsible et efficace. Rapport au Gouvernement'', September 2005, (page, PDF) **
Presentation of the LOLF
*** Edward Arkwright, Stanislas Godefroy, Manuel Mazquez, Jean-Luc Bœuf, Cécile Courrèges, ''La mise en oeuvre de la loi organique relative aux lois de finances'', La Documentation Française, 2005, ** Independent administrative authorities *** Conseil d'État, rapport public 2001, ''Les autorités administratives indépendantes'' (PDF)


Further reading

* Frédéric Monera, ''L'idée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel'' – Paris: L.G.D.J., 200


External links


''Service Public'', Official portal to public services
{{Authority control Politics of France,