List of constitutions of France

Last updated

The constitutions of France are the various foundational texts that have organized the institutions of France at different periods of its history. These may be known under various names – constitution, charter, constitutional laws or acts – and take precedence over other legislative texts. [lower-alpha 1]

Contents

The constitutional text currently in force in France is the constitution of 1958, which founded the Fifth Republic. It was approved by the people in a referendum on 28 September 1958, and officially promulgated on 4 October that year.

History

The constitutional history of France is made up of many changes that have led to experimentation with a large number of political regime types since the French Revolution, ranging from an assembly regime  [ fr ] (such as the National Convention) to reactionary dictatorship (such as the Vichy regime).

Precursors

The Kingdom of France, under the Ancien Régime , was an absolute monarchy and lacked a formal constitution; the regime essentially relied on custom. That said, certain rules known as the fundamental laws of the Kingdom were outside the power of the monarch to change without further consent. These rules were mainly about the inheritance of the Crown, which required strict primogeniture unless the heir was not Catholic, and from the Treaty of Troyes onward was strictly agnatic (male-only) as well. The Parlement of Paris, a primarily judicial body with quasi-legislative functions that was tasked with applying the fundamental laws, rarely brooked modification of the laws. For instance, Louis XIV tried by his will and testament to change the inheritance order, but the Parlement annulled it. [1] [2] On the other hand, the law was occasionally changed, as when the provisions of the Peace of Utrecht renouncing the claim of Louis XIV's grandson Philippe to inherit the throne of France were approved to allow him to inherit the throne of Spain.

List of constitutions

The Revolutionary Era saw a number of constitutions: [3]

Following the restoration of the monarchy: [3]

Mid-19th century: [3]

20th century: [3]

Preamble

In France, the preamble to the constitution of the Fifth Republic of 1958 was considered ancillary and therefore non-binding until a major jurisprudential reversal by the Constitutional Council in a decision of 16 July 1971. [4] This decision, which began with the words "Having regard to the constitution and its preamble," affected a considerable change of French constitutional law, as the preamble and the texts it referred to, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 and the preamble to the constitution of the Fourth Republic, took their place alongside the constitution proper as texts understood as being invested with constitutional value. The Charter of the Environment of 2004  [ fr ] was later appended to the preamble, and the Constitutional Council identified three informal categories consisting of the fundamental principles recognized by the laws of the Republic, the principles of constitutional value  [ fr ], [5] and the objectives of constitutional value  [ fr ].

Timeline diagram

Chronologie constitutions francaises.svg

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preamble</span> Introductory section of a document which states its purpose and philosophy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Fifth Republic</span> Current system of government of France (1958–present)

The Fifth Republic is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of France</span> Principles, institutions and law of political governance in France

The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic(French: la Constitution de la Cinquième République), 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.

This glossary of the French Revolution generally does not explicate names of individual people or their political associations; those can be found in List of people associated with the French Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of Five Hundred</span> Lower house of the Directory-era French Republic

The Council of Five Hundred was the lower house of the legislature of France under the Constitution of the Year III. It existed from 31 October 1795 to 9 November 1799 during the Directory (Directoire) period of the French Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of the Year VIII</span> 1799 constitution of France

The Constitution of the Year VIII was a national constitution of France, adopted on 24 December 1799, which established the form of government known as the Consulate. The coup of 18 Brumaire had effectively given all power to Napoleon Bonaparte, and in the eyes of some, ended the French Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitutional Council (France)</span> National constitutional ruling body of the French Republic

The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules are upheld. It is housed in the Palais-Royal in Paris. Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed statutes conform with the Constitution, after they have been voted by Parliament and before they are signed into law by the President of the Republic, or passed by the government as a decree, which has law status in many domains, a right granted to the government under delegation of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law of France</span>

French law has a dual jurisdictional system comprising private law, also known as judicial law, and public law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charter of 1830</span>

The Charter of 1830 instigated the July Monarchy in France. It was considered a compromise between constitutional monarchists and republicans.

The constitution of Quebec comprises a set of legal rules that arise from the following categories:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of France</span> Political system of France

The politics of France take place with the framework of a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the French Fifth Republic. 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".

Louis Favoreu was a French academic, specialized in public law, and a jurist. He was born in Lucq-de-Béarn (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and died in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). He was also a law professor, a senior faculty member and President of Paul Cézanne University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitutional amendments under the French Fifth Republic</span>

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:

  1. public projects for institutional modernization
  2. adaptation to European Union and other international law.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Constitution of 27 October 1946</span> Fundamental law of the French Fourth Republic (1946-58)

The Constitution of the French Republic of 27 October 1946 was the constitution of the French Fourth Republic.

The Ordinance of 9 August 1944 was a constitutional law enacted by the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) during the Liberation of France which re-established republican rule of law in mainland France after four years of occupation by Nazi Germany and control by the collaborationist Vichy regime.

Legislative elections were held in France between 8 and 22 May 1815 for the period of the Hundred Days. The elections were held to appoint deputies to the Chamber of Representatives established by the Additional Charter of 22 April 1815. The elections were the first since April 1799 and last of the 'republican system' until the Charter of 1830.

In France, the fundamental principles recognized by the laws of the Republic are certain principles recognized by the Constitutional Council and the Council of State as having constitutional force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitutional law of 2 November 1945</span>

The French constitutional Law of 2 November 1945 was an interim, transitional constitutional law that set a legal basis for government in France under the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) for one year until a new constitution was approved.

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.

In French law, judges cannot create legal norms, because of the principle known as "la prohibition des arrêts de règlement" of Article 5 of the French civil code: "Judges are forbidden from pronouncing in a generally dispositive and regulatory fashion on the matters submitted to them." They can only put into evidence and interpret existing norms. This general principle underlies the state of existing law, which is merely uncovered by the judge.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Precedence of constitutional texts over others may be viewed as the hierarchy of norms  [ fr; it; de ].
Footnotes
  1. ↑ "Le testament de Louis XIV". www.histoire-image.org (in French). 10 September 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  2. ↑ "Le testament et les codicilles de Louis XIV". mediatheque-numerique.inp.fr. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Les Constitutions de la France" [French Constitutions]. conseil-constitutionnel.fr (in French).
  4. ↑ Decision no. 71-44 DC, known as "Liberté d'association" ("Freedom of association"): https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/en/decision/1971/7144DC.htm
  5. ↑ "Principe à valeur constitutionnelle - Fiches d'orientation" [Principle of constitutional force - Fact sheets]. Dalloz (in French). Paris: Editions Dalloz. May 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023. Un principe à valeur constitutionnelle est un principe dégagé par le Conseil constitutionnel et dont le respect s'impose au législateur comme aux autres organes de l'État. Il est une norme juridique à part entière.[A principle of constitutional force is a principle identified by the Constitutional Council, the respect of which is binding on the legislator as well as on the other organs of the State. It is a legal norm in its own right.]

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.