French Revolution Legal Reforms: Abolition of Feudalism and the Declaration of 1789

The French Revolution (1789-1799) transformed the French legal system, abolishing the institutions of the Ancien Régime and establishing the principles of modern French law. The Revolution introduced the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), reorganised the court system, reformed criminal law, and laid the foundations for the Napoleonic Code. The legal reforms of the Revolution reflected the Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity and created the legal framework for a modern, unified French state.

Abolition of Feudalism

The Night of 4 August 1789 marked the formal abolition of feudalism in France. The Constituent Assembly decreed the abolition of the feudal regime, including the abolition of serfdom, the abolition of feudal dues and obligations, and the abolition of the privileges of the nobility and the clergy. The Assembly proclaimed that “the National Assembly entirely abolishes the feudal regime.”

The abolition of feudalism had far-reaching legal consequences. The distinction between the nobility, the clergy, and the commoners was abolished. All citizens were declared equal before the law. The feudal tenure of land was abolished, and land was declared to be held in full ownership. The tithe (the tax paid to the Church) was abolished. The purchase of judicial offices was abolished, and the judicial system was reorganised.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 26 August 1789 is the foundational text of French public law. The Declaration proclaims the natural and imprescriptible rights of man: liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. It establishes the principle of popular sovereignty, the supremacy of law as the expression of the general will, and the presumption of innocence.

The Declaration has constitutional status in modern French law. It is part of the bloc de constitutionnalité and is applied by the Constitutional Council and the Conseil d’État. The Declaration continues to be one of the most important sources of fundamental rights in French law.

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (Constitution civile du clergé), adopted on 12 July 1790, reorganised the Catholic Church in France. The law reduced the number of bishoprics, required the election of bishops and priests by the people, and required the clergy to swear an oath of loyalty to the Constitution.

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was controversial and led to a schism in the French Church. The Pope condemned the law, and many clergy refused to take the oath. The conflict over the Civil Constitution of the Clergy contributed to the radicalisation of the Revolution and to the outbreak of civil war in several regions of France.

Revolutionary Tribunals

The Revolution created special tribunals to deal with political offences. The Tribunal révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Tribunal) was established on 10 March 1793 to try persons accused of counter-revolutionary activities. The Tribunal was composed of judges and jurors selected by the Convention and was not subject to the ordinary procedural safeguards.

The Revolutionary Tribunal became an instrument of the Terror. Thousands of persons were tried and executed, including King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette, and many political figures. The Tribunal was abolished after the fall of Robespierre in 1794. The experience of the Revolutionary Tribunal discredited the idea of political justice and contributed to the demand for fair trial guarantees in subsequent French law.

The Penal Code of 1791

The Penal Code of 1791 (Code pénal de 1791) was the first comprehensive criminal code in French history. The Code established the principle of légalité criminelle (legality of crimes and punishments): no conduct could be punished unless it was expressly prohibited by law. The Code also established the principle of proportionality between crimes and punishments.

The Penal Code of 1791 abolished the arbitrary punishments of the Ancien Régime. It established a system of fixed penalties for each offence, eliminating judicial discretion in sentencing. The Code also abolished torture, branding, and other forms of cruel punishment. The death penalty was retained but was limited to the most serious offences. The Penal Code of 1791 was replaced by the Napoleonic Penal Code of 1810.

The Creation of the Tribunal de Cassation

The Tribunal de cassation (later the Cour de cassation) was established by the Law of 27 November-1 December 1790. The Tribunal was conceived as a “regulator of jurisdictions” rather than a supreme court. Its function was to ensure the uniform interpretation of the law by quashing decisions that violated the law and remanding them to lower courts.

The Tribunal de cassation was composed of judges elected by the Assembly. The Tribunal’s decisions did not have binding authority over the lower courts, and a case could be remanded multiple times. The Law of 1 April 1837 made the Tribunal’s decisions binding on the lower courts when a case was remanded after a second cassation. The Tribunal was renamed the Cour de cassation by the Constitution of the Year VIII (1799).

The Reorganisation of the Courts

The Constituent Assembly completely reorganised the court system. The Law of 16-24 August 1790 established a hierarchy of courts: the juge de paix (justice of the peace) for minor civil disputes, the tribunal de district for ordinary civil cases, and the tribunal criminel for criminal cases. The law also established the jury for criminal cases.

The Law of 16-24 August 1790 also prohibited judicial courts from reviewing administrative acts. This prohibition reflected the revolutionary distrust of the Parlements and became the foundation of the French system of administrative courts. The law provided that “the functions of the judiciary are distinct and shall remain separate from the administrative functions.”

The Period of the Directory (1795-1799)

The Constitution of Year III (1795) established the Directory and reorganised the judicial system. The Constitution established a system of civil and criminal courts and provided for the election of judges. The Constitution also established the Haute Cour de Justice to try ministers and other high officials for crimes against the state.

The Directory period saw a reaction against the radicalism of the Terror. The procedural safeguards that had been suspended during the Terror were restored. The jury system was reformed, and the independence of the judiciary was strengthened. The Directory also continued the work of codification, preparing the ground for the Napoleonic codes.

The Legacy of the Revolution

The legal reforms of the Revolution had a lasting impact on French law. The principles of the Declaration of 1789 — liberty, equality, popular sovereignty, and the rule of law — remain the foundation of French public law. The prohibition on judicial review of administrative acts established the French system of administrative courts. The creation of the Tribunal de cassation ensured the uniform interpretation of the law. The Penal Code of 1791 established the principle of legality in criminal law.

The Revolution also laid the foundations for the Napoleonic Code of 1804. The work of codification had begun during the Revolution, and the revolutionary reforms provided the substantive content for many of the Code’s provisions. The Code preserved the revolutionary achievements of equality before the law, freedom of contract, and the secularisation of law, while tempering the revolutionary radicalism with the order and stability that Napoleon sought to establish.