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Constitution Of France
The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic , and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a 1971 decision of the Constitutional Council. The current Constitution regards the separation of church and state, democracy, social welfare, and indivisibility as core principles of the French state. Charles de Gaulle was the main driving force in introducing the new constitution and inaugurating the Fifth Republic, while the text was drafted by Michel Debré. Since then, the constitution has been amended twenty-five times, notably in 2008 and most recently in 2024. Provisions Preamble The preamble of the constitution recalls the ''Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen'' from 1789 and establishes France as a secular and democratic country, deriving its sovereignty from the people. Since 2005 it includes the ten articles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1958 French Constitutional Referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in France on 28 September 1958.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p674 Voters were asked whether they approved of the adoption of a constitution for the French Fifth Republic written by Charles de Gaulle. It was overwhelmingly approved, with 82.6% in favour.Nohlen & Stöver, p685 Voter turnout was 84.9% in metropolitan France and 79.8% overall. Results The total includes Overseas departments, Algeria, Sahara, Overseas territories (except Guinea, French Togoland, French Cameroon, French New Hebrides and Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (), is a French island territorial collectivity, collectivity in the Oceania, South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga t ...) and French citizens living abroad. By territory See also * 1958 Cameroonian constitutional referendum * 1958 Chadian con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decision 71-44 DC Of 16 July 1971
A preamble () is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute. It is distinct from the long title or enacting formula of a law. In parliamentary procedure using Robert's Rules of Order, a preamble consists of "Whereas" clauses that are placed before the resolving clauses in a Resolution (law), resolution (formal written Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion). However, preambles are not required to be placed in resolutions. According to Robert's Rules of Order, including such background information may not be helpful in passing the resolution. Legal effect While preambles may be regarded as unimportant introductory matter, their words may have effects that may not have been foreseen by their drafters. France In France, the preamble to the constitution of the Fifth Republi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semi-presidential System
A semi-presidential republic, or dual executive 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 an executive president independent of the legislature; and from the presidential system in that the cabinet, although named by the president, is responsible to the legislature, which may force the cabinet to resign through a motion of no confidence. While the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and Finland (from 1919 to 2000) exemplified early semi-presidential systems, the term "semi-presidential" was first introduced in 1959, in an article by the journalist Hubert Beuve-Méry, and popularized by a 1978 work written by the political scientist Maurice Duverger. Both men intended to describe the French Fifth Republic (established in 1958). Definition Maurice Duverger's original definition of semi-presidentiali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charter For The Environment
The Charter for the Environment () is a constitutional law of France approved in 2005, forming part of the constitutional block () of French law having the same force as the Constitution. The Charter recognizes some fundamental rights and duties relating to the protection of the environment and introduces three major principles into the Constitution of France: the principle of prevention (in Art. 3), the precautionary principle, and the polluter pays principle. The charter project was initiated by the President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac and prepared by a Commission headed by Yves Coppens, professor of anthropology at the Collège de France. In changing the Constitution, the Charter is one of the Constitutional amendments under the French Fifth Republic. Origins Jacques Chirac announced the Charter for the Environment project on 3 May 2001, in a speech in Orléans. He was nearing the end of his first seven-year term as President, and the Charter became one o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sovereignty
Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate authority over other people and to change existing laws. In political theory, sovereignty is a substantive term designating supreme legitimate authority over some polity. In international law, sovereignty is the exercise of power by a state. ''De jure'' sovereignty refers to the legal right to do so; '' de facto'' sovereignty refers to the factual ability to do so. This can become an issue of special concern upon the failure of the usual expectation that ''de jure'' and ''de facto'' sovereignty exist at the place and time of concern, and reside within the same organization. Etymology The term arises from the unattested Vulgar Latin *''superanus'' (itself a derived form of Latin ''super'' – "over") meaning "chief", "ruler". Its spellin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democracy
Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitive Election, elections while more expansive or maximalist definitions link democracy to guarantees of civil liberties and human rights in addition to competitive elections. In a direct democracy, the people have the direct authority to Deliberation, deliberate and decide legislation. In a representative democracy, the people choose governing officials through elections to do so. The definition of "the people" and the ways authority is shared among them or delegated by them have changed over time and at varying rates in different countries. Features of democracy oftentimes include freedom of assembly, freedom of association, association, personal property, freedom of religion and freedom of speech, speech, citizenship, consent of the governe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laïcité
(; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as the separation of civil society and religious society. It discourages religious involvement in government affairs, especially in the determination of state policies as well as the recognition of a state religion. It also forbids government involvement in religious affairs, and especially prohibits government influence in the determination of religion, such that it includes a right to the free exercise of religion. French secularism has a long history: Enlightenment thinkers emphasized reason and self direction. Revolutionaries in 1789 violently overthrew the ''Ancien Régime,'' which included the Catholic Church. Secularism was an important ideology during the Second French Empire, Second Empire and French Third Republic, Third Republic. For the last century, the French government policy has been based on the 1905 French law on the Separati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Declaration Of The Rights Of Man And Of The Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil rights document from the French Revolution; the French title can be translated in the modern era as "Declaration of Human and Civic Rights". Inspired by Enlightenment philosophers, the declaration was a core statement of the values of the French Revolution and had a significant impact on the development of popular conceptions of individual liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide places. The declaration was initially drafted by Marquis de Lafayette with assistance from Thomas Jefferson, but the majority of the final draft came from Abbé Sieyès. Influenced by the doctrine of natural right, human rights are held to be universal: valid at all times and in every place. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by the law. It is included at the beginning of the constitutions of both the French Fourth Rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Constitutional Law Of 23 July 2008
The Constitutional law on the Modernisation of the Institutions of the Fifth Republic () was enacted into French constitutional law by the Parliament of France in July 2008, to reform state institutions. The position of Defender of Rights was established in this law. History Proposed in Nicolas Sarkozy's manifesto during the French presidential election of 2007, the stated goal of the changes was to modernise the institutions of the Fifth Republic. The ''Comité de réflexion et de proposition sur la modernisation et le rééquilibrage des institutions'', (literally : "A committee of reflection and proposal on the modernisation and the re-balancing of the institutions"), presided over by Édouard Balladur, a former Prime Minister, was established in July 2007. It was composed primarily of constitutional jurists and political personalities with legal competence. Following three months of work, it submitted its report to the President of the Republic on 29 October 2007. This re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constitutional Amendments Under The French Fifth Republic
The French constitution of 4 October 1958 was revised many times in its early years. Changes to this fundamental law have become more frequent since the 1990s, for two major reasons: #public projects for institutional modernization #adaptation to European Union and other international law. Overview Amendment procedures Article 89 The revision of the Constitution under Article 89 of the Constitution: In its current form, article 89 and 42 state that "''the plenary discussion of the draft constitutional amendment ... carries, on first reading to the first meeting, on the text submitted by the Government, and for further reading on the text sent by the other parliamentary branch''" (and not on the text adopted by the committee as ordinary laws). Furthermore, "''the discussion in meeting, first reading of a draft or a bill can only occur before the first assembly, until the expiration of a period of six weeks after filing. It can only occur before the second meeting at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michel Debré
Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 1959 to 1962. In terms of political personality, Debré was intense and immovable and had a tendency to rhetorical extremism. Early life Debré was born in Paris, the son of Jeanne-Marguerite (Debat-Ponsan) and Robert Debré, a well-known professor of medicine, who is today considered by many to be the founder of modern pediatrics. His maternal grandfather was academic painter Édouard Debat-Ponsan. Debré's father was Jewish, and his grandfather was a rabbi. Debré himself was Roman Catholic. He studied at the Lycée Montaigne and then at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, obtained a diploma from the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, and a PhD in Law from the University of Paris. He then became a Professor of Law at the University of Paris. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic () is France's current republic, republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of France, Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential republic, semi-presidential (or dual-executive) system that split powers between a President of France, president as head of state and a Prime Minister of France, prime minister as head of government. Charles de Gaulle, who was the List of Presidents of France#French Fifth Republic (1958–present), first French president elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying ("the spirit of the nation"). Under the fifth republic, the president has the right to dissolve the national assembly and hold new parliamentary elections. If the president ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
