France Facts - French Politics

The Administrative Order

The administrative order of courts judges most litigations against public bodies. It consists in administrative tribunals, administrative courts of appeals, and the Conseil d'État (litigation section) at its helm.

The Conseil d'État hears cases against executive decisions and has the power to quash governmental decisions and regulations if they don't 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.

The Constitutional Council

On the other hand, neither the judiciary nor the administrative courts can judge the constitutionality of statute laws. 

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 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.

The Court of financial Auditors

The Court of Auditors (Cour des Comptes), assisted by regional accounting courts, audits the finances of the State, public institutions and public bodies. It publishes a yearly official report and may refer criminal matters to prosecutors.

Related links

Legal texts 

• Civil Code, statutory part

• Code of Civil Procedure, statutory part

• Criminal Code, statutory part

• Code of Criminal Procedure, statutory part

• Code of Administrative Justice, statutory part

Institutions 

• Cour de Cassation

• Conseil d'État

• Constitutional Council 

• Court of Auditors

• High Council of the Magistracy 

Local Government

Traditionally, decision-making in France was highly centralized, with each of France's departments headed by a prefect appointed by the central government. 

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 continues, albeit at a slow pace.

Administrative units with a local government consist in:

about 36000 communes, headed by a municipal council and a mayor, grouped in 
100 départements, headed by a general council and its president, grouped in 
22 régions, headed by a regional council and its president. 

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 highschools and régions run public highschools, but only for the building and upkeep of buildings; curricula and teaching personnel are supplied by the national Ministry of Education.

Recent French politics

During his first 2 years in office, President Jacques Chirac's prime minister was Alain Juppé, who served contemporaneously as leader of Chirac's neo-Gaullist (RPR) Party.

Chirac and Juppé benefited from a very large, if rather unruly, majority in the National Assembly (470 out of 577 seats). 

Mindful that the government might have to take politically costly decisions in advance of the legislative elections planned for spring 1998 in order to ensure that France met the Maastricht criteria for the single European currency, Chirac decided in April to call early elections.

The Left, led by Socialist Party leader Lionel Jospin, whom Chirac had defeated in the 1995 presidential race-unexpectedly won a solid National Assembly majority (319 seats, with 289 required for an absolute majority). 

President Chirac named Jospin prime minister on June 2, and Jospin went on to form a government composed primarily of Socialist ministers, along with some ministers from allied parties of the Left, such as the Communist Party and the Greens. 

Jospin stated his support for continued European integration and his intention to keep France on the path toward Economic and Monetary Union, albeit with greater attention to social concerns.

The tradition in periods of "cohabitation" (president of one party, prime minister of another) is for the president to exercise the primary role in foreign and security policy, with the dominant role in domestic policy falling to the prime minister and his government. 

Jospin stated, however, that he would not a priori leave any domain exclusively to the president.

Chirac and Jospin worked together, for the most part, in the foreign affairs field with representatives of the presidency and the government pursuing a single, agreed French policy. 

Their "cohabitation" arrangement was the longest-lasting in the history of the Fifth Republic. 

However it ended, following the National Assembly elections that followed Chirac's heavy defeat of Jospin (who failed even to make it through to the second round of voting) in the 2002 presidential election. 

resident Chirac's current prime minister is the right wing Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

A enduring issue is Jean-Marie Le Pen's Front National party, whose anti-immigration, isolationist policies have him accused of racism and xenophobia.

Political pressure groups and leaders

Workers' unions.

• Confédération Générale du Travail or CGT, nearly 2.4 million members (claimed), traditional ties with the French Communist Party 

• Force Ouvrière (FO), 1 million members (est.) 

• Confédération Générale des Cadres (white-collar and executive workers), 340,000 members (claimed) 

• Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail or CFDT, about 800,000 members (est.), considered to be close to the reformist options of the French Socialist Party. 

• Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens 
  Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques, the "Group of 10", a group of radical trade unions; 

Employers' unions.

• Union of French Corporations (Mouvement des Entreprises de France or MEDEF, formally known as CNPF), sometimes referred to as patronat 

Peasants' unions.

• Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d'Exploitants Agricoles 

• Centre National des Jeunes Agriculteurs 
  Confédération Paysanne 

See also

Journal Officiel de la République Française 

External links

• official online repository of laws and regulations

• official portal to public services

• France Politique portal on French politics

The Constitution  

The current Constitution of France was adopted on October 4, 1958, and has been amended 17 times, most recently on October 2, 2000. 

It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, and replaced that of the Fourth Republic dating from October 27, 1946. Charles de Gaulle was its main instigator.

It recalls the Declaration of the Rights of Man from 1789 and establishes France as a secular and democratic republic, deriving its sovereignty from the people.

It provides for the election of the President and the Parliament, the selection of the Government, and the powers of each and the relations between them. 

It ensures judicial authority and creates a High Court of Justice, a Constitutional Council, and an Economic and Social Council. It was designed to create a politically strong President.

It enables the ratification of international treaties and those associated with the European Union. It is unclear whether the wording (especially the reserves of reciprocity) is compatible with European Union law.

The Constitution also sets out methods for its own amendment either by referendum or through a Parliamentary process with Presidential consent.

The executive branch

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

The President of the Republic Main article: President of France

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 cabinet, commands the armed forces, and concludes treaties. 

The president may submit questions to national referenda and can dissolve the National Assembly. In certain emergency situations, the president may assume special, comprehensive powers.

Under the system created by Charles de Gaulle, the President is the pre-eminent executive figure, who names the Prime Minister and cabinet, which is composed of a varying number of ministers, ministers-delegates, and secretaries of state. 

When the President's political party or supporters control parliament, the President is in effect the dominant player in executive action, choosing whomever he wishes for government, and having it follow his political agenda. 

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 reflecting the majority in parliament. 

When parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum control parliament and the presidency, the power-sharing arrangement is known as cohabitation.

As of 2003, the President is Jacques Chirac (since 17 May 1995).

The cabinet of ministers

The gouvernement, or cabinet, is headed by the Prime Minister of France. It has at its disposal the civil service the government agencies and the armed forces.

The cabinet is responsible to Parliament, and the National Assembly may pass a motion of censure, forcing the resignation of the cabinet. 

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.

Traditionally, the cabinet comprises, in decreasing rank:

• ministers 

• deputy ministers (ministres délégués), who assist ministers in areas of their duties; 

• secretaries of state (secrétaires d'état), who assist ministers in areas of their duties and attend cabinet meetings only occasionally. 

Before the Fifth Republic, some ministers of particular importance were called "ministers of state" (ministres d'État), but this was of purely honorific signifiance.

The number of ministries and the splitting of responsibilities and administrations between them varies from government to government, but some positions tend to stay the same, even though the exact title of the position may vary.

• Ministry of Finances (taxes, budget), 

• Ministry of the Interior (law enforcement, relationships with local governments), 

• Ministry of Justice (prisons, running the court system, supervision of the prosecution service), keeper of the seals, 

• Ministry of Education, 

• Ministry of Defense, 

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

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) at the Élysée Palace chaired by the president.

As of 2004, the prime minister is Jean-Pierre Raffarin (since 6 May 2002).

Legislation adoption procedures

Only the President and Prime Minister sign decrees (décrets).

The President signs decrees naming and dismissing some senior civil and military servants, for positions listed in the Constitution or in Statutes. 

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 competencies, subordinate to statutes and decrees.

The legislative branch

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.

The role of statute law with respect to 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.

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 the 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.

Legislation adoption procedures

Statute legislation may be proposed by the government (i.e. the council of ministers)), either by parliamentarians. 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 the text, it is sent to the other house, which can also amend it. 

If both houses don't 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, 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, of 60 deputies or 60 senators can ask for the text to undergo constitutional review before being put in force; it is then sent before the Constitutional Council. 

The President can also, only once per law, send back the law 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.

The National Assembly

The present-day French National Assembly (French: "Assemblée nationale") is one of the two houses of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The other one is the French Senate (Sénat).

The National Assembly consists of 577 members known as députés (deputies), each elected by a single-member constituency. It is presided over by a President. 

The term of the National Assembly is at most five years. The President of France may dissolve the Assembly (ie: call new election), except if he already dissolved it in the preceding year.

The official seat of the National Assembly is the Palais Bourbon on the banks of the river Seine. It is guarded by Republican Guards.

The National Assembly may cause 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.

The Senate

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, 5 the other dependencies and 12 the French established abroad.

Senators are elected by approximately 150,000 representatives of local administrative councils (and deputies of the National Assembly). 

This system introduces a bias in the composition of the Senate, which favors rural areas. As a consequence, while the political majority changes frequently in the National Assembly, the Senate usually remains conservative.

Powers
According to the French Constitution, the Senate has almost the same powers as the National Assembly. 

Bills may be submitted by the government ("projets de loi" or law projects) or by each house of the Parliament ("propositions de loi" or law proposals). Both houses must adopt the law before it can be promulgated.

Because both houses may amend the bill, it may take several readings to reach an agreement between the National Assembly and the Senate. 

When the Senate and the National Assembly cannot agree on a bill, the government can decide, after a complex procedure called Commission Mixte Paritaire, to give the final decision to the National Assembly, which majority is normally on the government's side. 

This does not happen frequently: most of the time both houses eventually agree on the bill, or the governement decides to withdraw it. However, this power gives the National Assembly a prominent role in the law-making process.

The Senate also participates in controlling the government's action by publishing many reports every year on various topics.

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 (now former) prime minister Lionel Jospin to declare the Senate an "anachronism".

Location
The Senate is housed inside the Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris and is guarded by Republican Guards. In front of the building lay the Senate's garden, the Luxembourg Garden, open to the public.

The 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.

Related links

official site of the French National Assembly
official site of the French Senate
official site of the French Economic and Social Council

The Judiciary

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 judiciary and the administrative orders of courts.

The Judicial Order

The judicial order of courts judges civil and penal cases. It consists 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 are used in the judgment of the most severe crimes.

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

As in all democracies respecting human rights, criminal justice legally respects the presumption of innocence.

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