French Institutions
The Constitution of 4 October 1958 provides the institutional basis for the Fifth Republic. It has been amended several times to institute election of the President of the Republic by direct universal suffrage (1962), incorporate a new title defining the criminal liability of members of the Government (1993), establish a single parliamentary session, enlarge the area of application of the referendum (1995), institute transitional provisions relating to New Caledonia (1998), establish European Economic and Monetary Union, ensure equal access of men and women to elective office and positions, recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (1999) and shorten the Presidential term of office (2000).
Constitutional council
President of the Republic
Prime minister and government
Parliament
The Senate
Judicial system
National anthem and motto
The French flag
National defence
Constitutional council
The nine-member Constitutional Council is responsible in particular for ensuring that elections are properly conducted and fair, and that constitutional bylaws and other legislation submitted to it are constitutional.
www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr
Elysée palace (Paris)
© F. de La Mure / M.A.E.
President of the Republic
The Head of State is elected for a five-year term by direct universal suffrage (establishment of the five-year term following the referendum of 24 September 2000). Nicolas Sarkozy became the sixth President of the Fifth Republic on May 6, 2007.
The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister and, on the latter’s recommendation, appoints the other members of the Government (Article 8 of the Constitution).
He presides over the Council of Ministers, promulgates Acts of Parliament and is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He may dissolve the National Assembly and, in an emergency, exercise special powers (article 16).
Prime minister and government
Under the direction of the Prime Minister, the government defines and carries out national policy. It is answerable to Parliament (Article 20). The Prime Minister steers the Government’s and ensures the implementation of legislation (article 21). François Fillon was appointed Prime Minister on May 17, 2007.
Parliament
The National Assembly (Paris)
© F. de La Mure / M.A.E.
Parliament is made up of two assemblies:
the Senate is elected by indirect universal suffrage for a six-year term (reduced from nine years in 2003). The house is renewable by one-third every three years. The last election took place in September 2004.
the National Assembly’s members (deputies) are elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The most recent general election was held in June 2007.
The two assemblies supervise the Government and pass legislation. In the event of disagreement on a law, the National Assembly makes the final decision.
The Senate
The Senate has 331 senators affiliated with the following groups since the September 2004 election:
Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) group: 158 Socialist group: 96 Union centriste group: 30 Communiste, républicain et citoyen group: 23 Rassemblement Démocratique et Social Européen (RDSE) group: 16 Non-affiliated: 7
The National Assembly
The National Assembly is made up of 577 deputies affiliated with the following groups since the general election of 10 and 17 June 2007:
Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) group: 314 (plus 6 allied) Socialiste, Radical et Citoyen group: 186 (plus 18 allied) Gauche démocrate et républicaine group : 24 (+ 0 allied) Nouveau centre group : 20 (+ 2 allied) Non-affiliated: 7
Judicial system
The French legal system is the "guardian of individual liberty" (Article 66 of the Constitution). It operates with a clear-cut distinction between judicial courts, with jurisdiction in disputes between persons and administrative courts, with jurisdiction in all cases involving disputes between citizens and public authorities.
At the time of the French Revolution, the law of 16 and 24 August 1790 laid down the principle of the separation of administrative and judicial authorities: judicial courts were prohibited from dealing with administrative matters. This law led to a dual legal system and the creation, under the Consulate, of the Council of State.
Two centuries later, this dual legal system is still very much alive. Judicial and administrative authorities each have two levels of jurisdiction (first instance and appeal). The Court of Appeal (Cour de cassation) is the highest jurisdiction in the judicial system, and the Council of State the highest in the administrative one. Disputes of competence between the two systems are settled by the Tribunal des Conflits.
Also worth of mention is the growing importance of European jurisdictions: the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the European Court of Human Rights.
There are two types of courts
Civil courts: ordinary (district courts) or specialised (subdistrict courts, commercial courts, social security courts and industrial tribunals for disputes between employees and employers).
Criminal courts
which deal with three types of offence:
- Minor offences, tried by police courts
- Major or technical offences, tried by criminal courts
- Serious crimes, tried by the Assize Court.
There is also a special court, the Juvenile Court, for both civil and criminal cases.
The highest judicial body is the Cour de Cassation (Supreme Court of Appeal), which rules on appeals against court-of-appeal judgements.
The Conseil d’État is the supreme administrative court and court of final appeal on the legality of administrative acts. The Government also consults the Conseil d’État for its opinion on bills and certain draft decrees.
www.justice.gouv.fr www.conseil-etat.fr
National anthem and motto
The national anthem is the Marseillaise, composed in Strasbourg in 1792 and originally known as the Battle Hymn of the Army of the Rhine. It was made the national anthem on 14 July 1795.
The motto of the French Republic is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".
The French flag
In 1789, La Fayette added the colour white, symbolizing royalty, to the red and blue cockade of the Paris National Guard. The blue, white and red flag is the official standard of the French Republic.
National defence
In 2007, the defence budget stood at €36.25 billion or 2.02% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 10.82% of the State budget.
The 2003-2008 Defence Police Act defines the resources and personnel targets required to meet the ambition of the President of the Republic and the Government to give France the defence resources it needs.
This is part of the drive to tailor the French defence system to today’s goals and issues, as shown by:
The scaling up of the resources to combat terrorism The security and reliability of French nuclear deterrent France’s involvement in crisis prevention and resolution (operational deployment of 15,000 - 20,000 military personnel) Military cooperation within NATO and the European Union.
In 2006, the French armed forces include 347 903 military and civilian personnel:
Army: 133 627 Air Force: 59 118 Navy: 42 752 Gendarmerie: 97 723 Joint services (health, social welfare, etc.): 14 683
Updated on July 2007
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