France
All articles tagged with jurisdiction: france
1971 Freedom of Association Decision: Birth of French Constitutional Review
The Freedom of Association decision (Décision Liberté d’association, no. 71-44 DC), rendered by the Constitutional Council on 16 July 1971, is the single most important decision in French …
1971 Freedom of Association Decision: Constitutional Principles
The 1971 Freedom of Association decision (Décision Liberté d’association, no. 71-44 DC), rendered by the Constitutional Council on 16 July 1971, is one of the most important decisions in French …
Affaire du Sang Contaminé: State Responsibility and Public Health Scandal
The Contaminated Blood Affair (Affaire du Sang Contaminé) is one of the most serious public health scandals in modern French history. Between 1984 and 1985, the state-run blood transfusion service …
Arrêt Arrighi (1936): Theory of Acte de Gouvernement
The Arrêt Arrighi, decided by the Conseil d’État on 6 November 1936, is a landmark decision concerning the theory of acte de gouvernement (governmental act). The case addressed the …
Arrêt Blanco (1873): Birth of French Administrative Law
The Arrêt Blanco, rendered by the Tribunal des Conflits on 8 February 1873, is the foundational decision of French administrative law. It established that the liability of the state for harm caused by …
Arrêt Blanco (1873): Foundational Administrative Law Case
The Arrêt Blanco, decided by the Tribunal des Conflits on 8 February 1873, is the foundational case of French administrative law. It established the autonomy of administrative law (droit …
Arrêt Nicolo (1989): Supremacy of EU Law
The Arrêt Nicolo, decided by the Conseil d’État on 20 October 1989, is a landmark decision in which the highest French administrative court accepted the supremacy of EU law over subsequent …
Civil Litigation in the French Legal System
Civil litigation in France is governed by the Code of Civil Procedure (Code de procédure civile) and follows the civil law tradition’s inquisitorial model, in which the judge plays an active …
Constitutional Amendment Under Article 89
The amendment of the French Constitution is governed by Article 89 of the 1958 Constitution, which establishes two distinct procedures for constitutional revision. Since the entry into force of the …
Contentieux Administratif: French Administrative Litigation
French administrative litigation (contentieux administratif) is the body of procedural rules governing disputes before the administrative courts. It is distinct from civil and criminal procedure and …
Criminal Procedure and the Juge d'Instruction
French criminal procedure is governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Code de procédure pénale). It follows a mixed inquisitorial-adversarial model, with a formal investigation phase for serious …
Droit Administratif: The French Law of Public Administration
French droit administratif (administrative law) is the body of law governing the organization, powers, and liabilities of public administration. It is distinguished from private law by its autonomy — …
French Criminal Procedure: The Code of Criminal Procedure and the Judicial Investigation
French criminal procedure is governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure (Code de procédure pénale, CPP), enacted in 1958 and substantially reformed on multiple occasions. The procedure follows a mixed …
French Legal Terms A-F
This glossary defines essential French legal terms from A through F, providing English translations and contextual explanations for their use in the French legal system. Each entry includes a …
French Legal Terms G-Z
This glossary defines essential French legal terms from G through Z, providing English translations and contextual explanations for their use in the French legal system. H Hiérarchie des normes — …
French Legal Terms H-L
H Habile à agir — Having legal capacity to bring or defend proceedings in court. A person must have the legal capacity (capacité) to exercise procedural rights; minors and protected adults act through …
French Legal Terms M-P
M Mandat d’arrêt — Arrest warrant issued by a juge d’instruction or criminal court ordering law enforcement to apprehend a person and bring them before the issuing authority. French law …
French Legal Terms Q-T
Q Quasi-contrat — Quasi-contract. A lawful act creating obligations without an actual agreement, governed by Articles 1300-1303 of the Civil Code. The principal quasi-contracts are gestion …
French Legal Terms U-Z
U Union européenne — European Union. The supranational organization of 27 European Member States to which France has transferred certain sovereign competences under Title XV of the Constitution. EU …
Personal Fault (Faute) in French Tort Law
The concept of faute (fault) is the cornerstone of French extracontractual civil liability. Governed by Articles 1240 and 1241 of the Civil Code, the general principle holds that any act causing …
Public Order as a Limitation on Rights
The concept of ordre public (public order) is a foundational limitation on individual rights and freedoms in French law. It serves as the legal basis for restricting liberty in the interest of public …
The Bloc de Constitutionnalité
The bloc de constitutionnalité is a distinctively French doctrine that defines the set of norms possessing constitutional status in the French legal order. Unlike constitutions that confine their …
The Bloc de Constitutionnalité: Norms of French Constitutional Review
The bloc de constitutionnalité (constitutional block) is the set of norms that the Constitutional Council applies in its review of legislation. It comprises the written Constitution of 1958, the texts …
The Conseil Constitutionnel and Constitutional Review
The Conseil Constitutionnel (Constitutional Council) is a specialized constitutional court established by the 1958 Constitution of the Fifth Republic. Unlike the supreme courts of many other …
The Constitution of the Fifth Republic (1958)
The Constitution of the Fifth Republic, adopted by referendum on 28 September 1958 and promulgated on 4 October 1958, is the founding text of the current French constitutional order. Drafted under the …
The Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel)
The Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel) is the French constitutional court, established by the 1958 Constitution of the Fifth Republic. Originally conceived as a political body to …
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen), adopted by the National Assembly on 26 August 1789, is the founding document of French …
The Doctrine of Cause in French Contract Law
The doctrine of cause (cause) was a distinctive feature of French contract law that required every valid contract to have a lawful cause or reason for the obligation. It distinguished French civil law …
The Dual Court System and Conseil d'État
France’s dual court system (dualisme juridictionnel) is a defining feature of its legal order, separating the judicial courts (ordre judiciaire) from the administrative courts (ordre …
The French Civil Code
The French Civil Code (Code civil), originally enacted in 1804 as the Code Napoléon, is the principal codification of French private law. It governs personal status, property, obligations, and …
The French Code of Civil Procedure
The French Code of Civil Procedure (Code de procédure civile) governs the conduct of civil litigation in French courts. Enacted in its current form by Decree No. 75-1123 of 5 December 1975, it …
The French Penal Code
The French Penal Code (Code pénal) is the codification of French criminal law. The current Code, known as the Nouveau Code Pénal, entered into force on 1 March 1994, replacing the original 1810 Penal …
The Legacy of the Code Napoléon
The Code Napoléon, officially the Code Civil des Français, was promulgated on 21 March 1804 and remains the foundation of French private law. Its influence extends far beyond France, making it one of …
The Principle of Legality in French Criminal Law
The principle of legality (principe de légalité) is a fundamental tenet of French criminal law, expressed by the Latin maxims nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege (no crime, no punishment without …
The Principle of Proportionality in French Law
The principle of proportionality (principe de proportionnalité) is a fundamental tool of judicial review across French law. It requires that measures restricting rights or imposing obligations be …
The Separation of Powers Under the Fifth Republic
The separation of powers under the French Fifth Republic represents a distinctive model of executive-dominated constitutionalism. The 1958 Constitution was deliberately designed to cure the perceived …