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Government of France

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

   The government of France is a semi-presidential system based on the
   French Constitution of the fifth Republic, in which the nation declares
   itself to be "an indivisible, secular, democratic, and social
   Republic". The constitution provides for a separation of powers and
   proclaims France's "attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles
   of national sovereignty as defined by the Declaration of 1789."

   The national government of France is divided into an executive, a
   legislative and a judicial branch. The President has a degree of direct
   executive power, but most executive power resides in his appointee, the
   Prime Minister. The President's choice for Prime Minister must have the
   confidence of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament;
   also the Prime Minister is always from the majority party in that
   house.

   Parliament comprises the National Assembly and the Senate. 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 enquiry. 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. Former Presidents of the Republic also are members of the
   Council.

   The independent judiciary is based on a civil law system which evolved
   from the Napoleonic code. It is divided into the judicial branch
   (dealing with civil law and criminal law) and the administrative branch
   (dealing with appeals against executive decisions), each with their own
   independent supreme court, the courts of cassation. The French
   government includes various bodies that check abuses of power and
   independent agencies.

   France is a unitary state. However, the various legal subdivisions—the
   régions, départements and communes—have various attributions, and the
   national government is prohibited from intruding into their normal
   legal operations.

Constitution

   A popular referendum 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
   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, 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.

   Among these foundational principles, one may cite: the equality of all
   citizens before law, and the rejection of special class privileges such
   as those that existed prior to the French Revolution; presumption of
   innocence; freedom of speech; freedom of opinion including freedom of
   religion; the guarantee of property against arbitrary seizure; the
   accountability of government agents to the citizenry.
   The main processes of the French national government (most of the
   justice system excluded for clarity)
   Enlarge
   The main processes of the French national government (most of the
   justice system excluded for clarity)

Executive branch

   France has an original system with an executive branch headed by two
   officials: the President and the Prime Minister.

President of the Republic

   Under the constitution, the President was originally elected for a
   seven-year term; this has been reduced to five years. The President
   names the Prime Minister, presides over the gouvernement (cabinet of
   ministers), commands the armed forces, and concludes treaties. The
   President may submit questions to national referenda and can dissolve
   the National Assembly.

   In certain emergencies the President may assume special, comprehensive
   powers. However, in normal times, the President may pass neither
   legislation nor regulations, though, of course, if the Parliament is
   from his political side, he may strongly suggest the adoption of
   certain legislation, or request his prime minister to take such or such
   regulation.

   In the original 1958 constitution, the President was elected by an
   electoral college of elected officials. However, in 1962, Charles de
   Gaulle obtained, through a referendum, an amendment to the constitution
   whereby the president would be directly elected by citizens. Given
   France's runoff voting system, this means that the presidential
   candidate is required to obtain a nationwide majority of non-blank
   votes at either the first or second round of balloting, which
   presumably implies that the president is somewhat supported by at least
   half of the voting population; this gives him considerable legitimacy.
   Despite his somewhat restricted de jure powers, the president thus
   enjoys considerable aura and effective power.

   As a consequence, the President is the preeminent figure in French
   politics. He names the Prime Minister; though he may not de jure
   dismiss him, if the Prime Minister is from the same political side, he
   can, in practice, have him resign on demand. He 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 he must choose a
   Prime Minister and cabinet who reflect the majority in parliament, and
   who will 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.

   Jacques Chirac has been President since 17 May 1995. He was re-elected
   in 2002 for five more years.

   The first president of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle, wanted a
   strong executive; this contrasted with the chronic instability of the
   parliamentary Fourth Republic.

   François Mitterrand was the French President who served the longest
   time ( 1981- 1995).

   Jacques Chirac is the current president.

The gouvernement

   Current prime minister, Dominique de Villepin
   Enlarge
   Current prime minister, Dominique de Villepin

   The gouvernement is headed by the Prime Minister. It has at its
   disposal the civil service, the government agencies, and the armed
   forces. (The term " cabinet" is rarely used to describe the
   gouvernement, even in translation, as it is used in French to mean a
   minister's private office, composed of politically-appointed aides. In
   French, the word gouvernement can refer to government in general, but
   generally refers to the cabinet.)

   The gouvernement is responsible to Parliament, and the National
   Assembly may pass a motion of censure, forcing the resignation of the
   cabinet. This, in practice, forces the gouvernement to be from the same
   political stripe as 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 cannot pass legislation without parliamentary
   approval, though the prime minister may issue regulations (décrets with
   a value of réglement) within certain constraints. Ministers, however,
   can propose legislation to Parliament; since the Assembly is from the
   same political stripe as 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. As of 2006, the last time this article was invoked was for the
   "first employment contract" proposed by Prime Minister Dominique de
   Villepin, a move that greatly backfired.

                                                     Politics of France
                                                     Government of France

                                                President of the Republic
                                                            Prime Minister

                                                                Ministers:
     * Foreign Affairs
     * Interior
     * Finances
     * Defence
     * Justice
     * National Education
     * Culture
     * Agriculture
     * Health
     * Transportation, Public
       Works, Tourism, Sea
     * Environment
     * Social Affairs, Housing
     * Youth and Sports
     * Overseas France

                                                 Presidents of the Senate

                                                 and National Assembly

   Traditionally, the cabinet comprises members of three ranks. Ministers
   are the most senior members of the government; ministers-delegate
   (ministres délégués) assist ministers in particular areas of their
   portfolio; secretaries of state (secrétaires d'État) assist ministers
   in less important areas, and attend cabinet meetings only occasionally.
   Before the Fifth Republic, some ministers of particular political
   importance were called "ministers of state" (ministres d'État); the
   practice has continued under the Fifth Republic in a purely honorific
   fashion: ministers styled Minister of State are considered of a higher
   importance in the cabinet.

   The number of ministries and the splitting of responsibilities and
   administrations between them varies from government to government.
   While the name and exact areas of responsibility of each ministry may
   change, one generally finds at least:
     * Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry (taxes, budget),
     * Ministry of the Interior (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,
     * Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
     * Ministry of Transportation.

   (For more on French ministries, see French government ministers)

   The gouvernement 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 cabinet has weekly meetings (usually on Wednesday mornings),
   chaired by the President, at the Élysée Palace.

   Following the referendum rejecting the European Constitution, Dominique
   de Villepin replaced Jean-Pierre Raffarin as the French Prime Minister
   on May 31, 2005.

Executive-issued regulations and legislation

   The French executive has a limited power to establish regulation or
   legislation. (See below for how such regulations or legislative items
   interact with statute law.

Decrees and other executive decisions

   Only the President and Prime Minister sign decrees (décrets), which are
   akin to US executive orders. Decrees can only be taken following
   certain procedures and with due respect to the constitution and statute
   law.
     * The President signs decrees naming 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 regulations, which
       the concerned ministers countersign. In some areas, they constitute
       primary legislation, in some others they must be subordinate to an
       existing statute. 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 take administrative decisions (arrêtés) in
   their fields of competence, subordinate to statutes and decrees.

   Contrary to a sometimes used polemical cliché, neither the president
   nor the prime minister may rule by decree (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 such areas.
   Habilitation laws specify the scope of the ordinance. After the
   ordinance is issued, Parliament is asked whether it wants to ratify it.
   If Parliament votes no to ratification, the ordinance is cancelled.
   Most of the time, ratification is not voted upon.

   The use of ordinances should normally be reserved for very urgent
   matters, or for technical, uncontroversial texts (such as the
   ordinances that converted all sums in French Francs to Euros in the
   various laws in force in France). They are sometimes used to push
   controversial legislation through, such as when Prime Minister
   Dominique de Villepin created new forms of work contracts in 2005. The
   use of ordinances in such contexts is then criticized by the opposition
   as anti-democratic, and demeaning to Parliament. It must be said,
   however, that since the National Assembly 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 gouvernement, or cabinet. 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 can impose
   sanctions that are named "administrative sanctions" sanctions
   administratives. However, their role is more exactly the one of a
   "médiateur" (ombudsman) between the public or private operators acting
   on a public service sector, and their decisions can still be contested
   face to a judicial court. And they are often consulted by the
   government or the French Parlement seeking advice before regulating by
   law.

   Some examples of independent agencies:
     * The Banque de France, 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 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 and TV, as well as public
       broadcasting.

   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 (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 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).

   The government also provides specialized agencies for regulating
   critical markets or limited resources, and markets created by law;
   although they are technically not independant, they are working mostly
   like independant agencies (but with a strong control by the
   government), and they also have a quasi-judicial power, as most of
   their decisions are immediately applicable and enforced by law. The
   only direct control by the government is by naming their directors. For
   example:
     * 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 economical actors 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 of Frequencies ( Agence nationale des
       fréquences (ANFR)) regulates and maintains the allocation of
       spectral radiofrequencies resources along with other international
       frequencies regulators and national regulators (the CSA and ARCEP)
       or public ministries, controls the operators on the national
       territory, and publishes compliance standards for manufacturers of
       radioelectric equipments.
     * 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 now a single registry is shared
       with the independant 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 Paliament provides for its finances and
       personnels, but it only owns one third of the seats at its decision
       board of directors (the other seats are shared equally by unions of
       employers and workers).

   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 or time
   in office, typically in competitive exams. Certain civil servants have
   statuses that prohibit executive interference; for instance, judges and
   prosecutors may be named or moved only according to specific
   procedures. Public researchers and university professors enjoy academic
   freedom; by law, they enjoy complete freedom of speech within the
   ordinary constraints of academia.

Organization of government services

   Each ministry has a central administration (administration centrale),
   generally divided into directions. These directions are usually divided
   into divisions or sub-directions. Each direction 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.

   The state also has distributive services spread throughout French
   territory, often reflecting divisions into régions or départements. The
   prefect, the representative of the national government in each région
   or département, supervises the activities of the distributive services
   in his 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 (Treasury) in each département are headed
   by a treasurer-paymaster general, named by the President of the
   Republic in Council. 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, in order 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;
          + etablishments of a research and technical character, such as
            CNRS or INRIA;
     * public establishments of an industrial and commercial character,
       including, for instance, CEA and Ifremer.

   One essential difference is 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. A consequence is that in the former,
   permanent personnel are civil servants, while normally in the latter,
   they are contract employees.

   In addition, the government maintains a number of public corporations.

   An originality of the French system is that social security
   organizations, though established by statute, 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.

Legislative branch

   The Parliament of France, making up the legislative branch, consists of
   two houses: the National Assembly and the Senate; the Assembly is the
   pre-eminent body.

   Parliament meets for one 9-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.

   The cabinet 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 introduction - thus
   full procedures last at most 72 hours), the text is considered adopted
   without a vote.

   Members of Parliament enjoy parliamentary immunity. 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 sits in the Palais Bourbon, by the Seine.
   Enlarge
   The National Assembly sits in the Palais Bourbon, by the Seine.

   The National Assembly is the principal legislative body. Its 577
   deputies are directly elected for 5-year terms in local majority votes,
   and all seats are voted on in each election.

   The National Assembly may force the resignation of the executive
   cabinet by voting a motion of censure. For this reason, the prime
   minister and his cabinet 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.

Senate

   The Senate's amphitheater
   Enlarge
   The Senate's amphitheater

   Senators are chosen by an electoral college of about 145,000 local
   elected officials for 6-year terms, and one half of the Senate is
   renewed every 3 years. Before the law of 30 July 2004, senators were
   elected for 9 years, renewed by thirds every 3 years. There are
   currently 321 senators, but there will be 346 in 2010; 304 represent
   the metropolitan and overseas départements, five 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 always had a
   right-wing majority. This, the indirect mode of election and the
   inequality of representation with respect to demographics prompted
   Lionel Jospin, who was prime minister at the time, to declare the
   Senate an "anachronism".

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. Propositions de loi cannot
   increase the financial load of the state without providing for funding.

   Projets de loi start in the house the government chooses, 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.

   The law is then sent to the President of France for signature. 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, send the law back to parliament for another review.
   Otherwise, the President must sign the law. After being countersigned
   by the concerned ministers, it is then sent to the Journal Officiel for
   publication.

Budget

   The LOLF
   Enlarge
   The LOLF

   The Finance Bills (lois de finances) and the financing law of social
   security (lois de financement de la sécurité sociale) are special
   bills, voted following 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, in order 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 288.8 billion
   Euro in 2005. This includes neither Social Security, nor the budgets of
   local governments.

Multiple mandates

   It has long been customary for members of parliaments to have, in
   addition to their mandate as deputy or senator, some local mandate,
   such as mayor of a city; thus, the phrases "deputy-mayor"
   (député-maire) and "senator-mayor" (sénateur-maire). This is known as
   the cumul of electoral mandates. 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 Officiel.

Judiciary

   France's political system, in keeping with rule of law, has an
   independent judiciary, meaning that it has court systems whose
   decisions are not de jure controlled by the executive or legislative
   branches. France has a system of civil law, but jurisprudence plays an
   important role similar to that of case law.

   The most distinctive feature of the French judicial system is that it
   is divided into the judicial and the administrative orders of courts.

Judicial Order

   The judicial order of courts judges civil and penal cases. It consists
   of, in first instance: courts, courts of appeal, and the Cour de
   cassation at its helm.

   Judges are civil servants, but enjoy special statutory protection from
   the executive. They may not be moved or promoted without their consent.
   Their careers are overseen by the High Council of the Magistracy.

   The prosecution service, on the other hand, responds to the Minister of
   Justice. This has in the past led to suspicions of pressures to drop
   litigation against politicians suspected of corruption, and the topic
   of the status of the prosecutors comes up regularly in political
   discussions.

   Trial by jury is used in the judgment of the most severe crimes, by the
   Courts of Assizes. The full court – 3 judges and 9 jurors (12 jurors on
   appeal) – determines first guilt, then, if guilty, the sentence. Jurors
   are drawn at random from voters' rolls.

   Pre-judgment proceedings are inquisitorial, but the actual court
   appearance is rather adversarial.

   The burden of proof in criminal proceedings is on the prosecution, and
   the accused is constitutionally presumed innocent until declared
   guilty.

   Certain specialized courts of first instance are staffed with elected
   judges. For instance, courts deciding cases of labor law are staffed
   with an equal number of judges from employers' unions and employees'
   unions. A similar arrangement holds for courts dealing with rural land
   leases.

Administrative Order

   The Conseil d'État sits in the Palais Royal
   Enlarge
   The Conseil d'État sits in the Palais Royal

   The Administrative Order of Courts judges most litigations against
   public bodies. It consists of administrative tribunals, administrative
   courts of appeals, and the Conseil d'État at litigation at its helm.

   The Conseil d'État hears cases against executive decisions and has the
   power to quash governmental decisions and regulations if they do not
   conform to applicable constitutional or statutory law, or to the
   general principles of law.

   The proceedings are essentially written and inquisitorial, with both
   parties being called by the judges to explain themselves in writing.

Constitutional Council

   Neither the judiciary nor the administrative courts can rule upon the
   constitutionality of statutory law. While technically not part of the
   judiciary, the Constitutional Council examines legislation and decides
   whether it conforms to the constitution and treaties, prior to its
   promulgation: in all cases for organic laws, and only under referral
   from the President of the Republic, the president of the Senate, the
   President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister or 60 senators
   or 60 members of the National Assembly for normal laws. The
   Constitutional Council may refuse statutes as unconstitutional if they
   contradict the principles of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man
   and of the Citizen (cited in the preamble of the Constitution) or the
   European Convention on Human Rights (accepted by treaty).

   The Constitutional Council comprises members appointed for 9 years (3
   every 3 years), three members appointed by the President, three members
   appointed by the President of the National Assembly, and three
   appointed by the President of the Senate.

Financial jurisdictions

   The Court of Accounts ( Cour des Comptes), assisted by regional
   accounting courts, audits the finances of the State, public
   institutions (including other jurisditions) and public bodies. It
   publishes a yearly official report and may refer criminal matters to
   prosecutors. It can also directly fine public accountants for
   mishandling of funds, and refer civil servants who misused funds to the
   Court of Financial and Budgetary Discipline.

   The Court and the chambers do not judge the accountants of private
   organizations. However, in some circumstances, they may audit their
   accounting, especially when they are candidate to, or are operating
   have a concession of a public service or a service requiring the
   permanent use of the public domain, or when they are candidates for
   public markets open to competition though calls of offers. The Court is
   often sollicitated by various state agencies, parlementary commissions
   and public regulators, but it can also be invoked by any French citizen
   or organization operating in France.

   The Court itself is controled by financial commissions of the two
   chambers of the French Parlement who provides its working budget in the
   yearly Act of finances.

Ombudsman

   In 1973 the position of médiateur de la République (the Republic's
   ombudsman) was created. The obdusman 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 in order to further these goals; and actively
   participating in the international promotion of human rights.

   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. He does not receive or accept orders from
   any authority. The current ombudsman is Jean-Paul Delevoye.

French law

Basic principles

   The basic principles that the French Republic must respect are found in
   the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
   Enlarge
   The basic principles that the French Republic must respect are found in
   the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

   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).

   Many fundamental principles of French Law were laid in the Napoleonic
   Codes. Basic principles of the rule of law 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 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, wrote about the management
   of 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, nor does it recognize
   religious beliefs or morality as a motivation for the enactment of
   prohibitions. As a consequence, France has long had neither blasphemy
   laws nor sodomy laws (the latter being abolished in 1789).

Statute law vs executive regulations

   French law differentiates between statutes (loi), generally adopted by
   the legislative branch, and regulations (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:

   Statutes shall concern:
     * Civic rights and the fundamental guarantees granted to citizens for
       the exercise of their public liberties; the obligations imposed for
       the purposes of national defence upon citizens in respect of their
       persons and their property;
     * Nationality, the status and legal capacity of persons, matrimonial
       regimes, inheritance and gifts;
     * The determination of serious crimes and other major offences and
       the penalties applicable to them; criminal procedure; amnesty ; the
       establishment of new classes of courts and tribunals and the
       regulations governing the members of the judiciary;
     * The base, rates and methods of collection of taxes of all types;
       the issue of currency.

   Statutes shall likewise determine the rules concerning:
     * The electoral 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 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;
     * The regime governing ownership, rights in rem, and civil and
       commercial obligations ;
     * Labour law, trade-union law and social security.

   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 institutional Act.

   Other areas are matters of regulation.

Hierarchy of norms

   When courts have to deal with incoherent texts, they apply the
   following hierarchy:
    1. The French Constitution ( includes the general principles of
       constitutional values recognized by the laws of the Republic (as
       defined by the Constitutional Council)
    2. International Treaties and Agreements
    3. organic laws
    4. normal laws
    5. general principles of law (as defined by the Conseil d'État)
    6. decrees taken with advisory review by the Conseil d'État
    7. decrees taken without review by the Conseil d'État
    8. arrêtés
          + of several ministers
          + of a single minister
          + of other authorities
    9. regulations and decisions by independent agencies.

Local government

   Traditionally, decision-making in France used to be highly centralized,
   with each of France's départements headed by a prefect 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 and could lead to more decentralisation in the
   coming years.

   Administrative units with a local government in Metropolitan France
   (that is, the parts of France lying in Europe) consist of:
     * about 36,000 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
     * 22 régions, headed by a regional council and its president.

   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 locality from which he or she is elected.
   (Sociologist Jean Viard noted [Le Monde, Feb. 22, 2006] that 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, 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.

   French overseas possessions are divided into two groups:
     * 4 overseas départements, with some strong similarity of
       organization to their metropolitan counterparts;
     * Other possessions, generally having greater autonomy.

   All inhabited French territory is represented in both houses of
   Parliament and votes for the presidential election.
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