Laws and Courts in

France
THE FRENCH JUDICIAL
SYSTEM

OVERVIEW
The fifth French Constitution was promulgated on
October 4, 1958. The Constitution is the highest
norm in the internal hierarchy. The Constitutional
Council in 1971 cited the Constitutions
Preamble and the Declaration of the Man and of
the Citizen (1789) as texts included in the
Constitutional Principles.
Moreover, the Fundamental Principles of the
Republic expressed by the Constitutional Council
and the Environment Charter of 2004 are also
part of the constitutional block.

OVERVIEW
The French legal system is based entirely on
written
civil
law.
The
system
of
administrative law was laid down by
Napoleon and is appropriately called the
code Napolon (Napoleonic code). The code
governs all branches of French law and
includes the code civil, the code fiscal and
the code pnal.

Judicial systems
*ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM
Deals
with
disputes
between
government and individuals.
E.G. Cases against civil servants.
*JUDICIARY SYSTEM
Handles civil and criminal cases.

the

COURT ORGANIZATION
At the basic level, the courts can be seen as
organized into:
ordinary courts (ordre judiciaire), which
handle criminal and civil litigation
administrative courts (ordre administratif),
which supervise the government and
handle complaints

Ordinary
Minor Jurisdiction
At the bottom of the court hierarchy are the
courts of minor jurisdiction.
The Police Court (tribunal de police, also
called the Police Tribunal)
hearscontraventions, minor criminal offenses
such as traffic violations, minor assaults, and
breaches of the peace.
The Civil Court (tribunal d'instance) hears
minor civil cases.

Ordinary
Major Jurisdiction
When the court hearsdlits, less serious felonies and
misdemeanors, it is called a Criminal Court (tribunal
correctionnel, also called a Correctional Court).
When the court sits to hear civil matters, it is called a
Civil Court (tribunal de grande instance, also called a
Grand Instance Court).
It hasgeneral jurisdictionfor civil matters over 10
000 . Litigants are statutorily required to be
represented by a lawyer, oravocat. The court also
sits as a Juvenile Court (tribunal pour enfants).

Ordinary
Specialized Jurisdiction
The Labor Court (conseil de prud'hommes) hears
disputes and suits between employers and employees
(apart from cases devoted to administrative courts.
The Land Estate Court (tribunal paritaire des baux
ruraux) hears cases dealing with long-term leases for
farm land estates.
The Social Security Court (tribunal des affaires de
scurit sociale) hears suits over welfare and state
benefits. The Business Court (tribunal de commerce)
hears matters involving trade and business disputes and
the panel is elected from the local business community.

Ordinary
Court of Assize
TheCourt of Assize(cour d'assises, also called a
Court of Sessions) sits in each of thedepartments
of Francewith original and appellate jurisdiction
overcrimes, or serious felonies.
As a court of first instance, it is normally
composed of 3 judges and 9 jurors, but in some
cases involvingterrorismand theillegal drug
tradethe court may sit as 3 judges alone.When it
sits as a court of appeal, it is composed of 3
judges.

Ordinary
Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal (cour d'appel) handles
appeals from most lower courts. It is
composed of 3 judges.
The Court is divided into a number of
divisions or courts: social security, business,
general civil, and criminal.
Appeals may take anywhere from 18 to 24
months, if not longer.

Ordinary
Court of Cassation
TheCourt of Cassation(cour de cassation) is the highest level of
appeal in France.
These courts sit in five chambers with fifteen judges in each;
however, only seven judges need to be present to hear a case.
There are more than 120 judges serving in the court.
The Court of Cassation hears appeals from the assize courts and
the courts of appeal.
Criminal cases are heard in only one of the court's five chambers
and the court has no legal authority to deny a criminal appeal.
The Court is referred to as the guardian of the law. It only reviews
questions of law, not questions of fact. The Courts essential
purpose is to ensure that the interpretation of the law is uniform
throughout the country.

ADMINISTRATIVE
Since the 1953 reforms, the administrative courts have been
first instance judges of administrative litigations.
There are 35 such courts and approximately 600 magistrates
who judge 100 000 cases a year. These courts settle disputes
between public authorities (the government, regions,
departments or administrative bodies) or State-owned
companies on the one hand and citizens on the other hand.
Example:
a refusal to give a building permit
an objection to a land-use plan or proposed motorway
a claim for compensation for damages caused by public bodies
a refusal to give a residence permit,
the deportation of a foreigner
objections to direct taxes and their recovery
Etc.

ADMINISTRATIVE
Jurisdictional Court
The Jurisdictional Court, ortribunal des conflits,
handles conflicts between the civil system of
justice and the administrative system of justice.
Positive conflict: both systems consider
themselves competent for the same case.
Negative conflict: both systems consider that the
other system is competent for the case, resulting
in a denial of justice.
In both cases, thetribunal des conflitswill render
final judgment on which system is competent.

ADMINISTRATIVE
Constitutional Council
TheConstitutional
Council(Conseil
Constitutionnel) practicesjudicial reviewof
legislative acts and laws.
It supervises controversies of elections and
performs judicial review by determining the
constitutionality of parliamentary legislation.

ADMINISTRATIVE
Court of Audit
The financial courts - nationalCourt of Audit(cour des comptes)
and regional audit courts (chambres rgionales des comptes) have jurisdiction to try cases involving possible misuse of public
funds, and, in some rare instances, of private funds.
JURISDICTION
The Court of Audit and regional audit courts mostly adjudicate
cases regarding public funds, carrying out:
Mandatory audits of public accountants to track national and
local government funds.
Discretionary audits of public corporations, publicly subsidized
private organizations, and social security and welfare agencies.
Since 1999, audits of private charities who regularly receive
public donations.

FRENCH JURY SYSTEM

France doesnt have a jury system
(abolished in 1941) but a mixed tribunal
made up of six lay judges and three
professional
judges,
with
convictions
decided by a two-thirds majority. However,
in the cour dassises (see below), nine
ordinary citizens make up a jury populaire.

Voiding laws

Voiding laws
After a Law was passed, and then
promulgated (15 days), the Constitutional
Council may void a law (or deemed it
unconstitutional if:
It is either by the President, the Prime
Minister, or the President of either
houses of Parlement.
If no one challenges the law in 15 days
period, then it is valid, regardless if it
violate the constitution.

Voiding laws
In 1970, after the departure of de Gaulle in
the government,
A law limiting the freedom of association by
limiting prefects the power to refuse to
register was passed, therefore denying legal
recognition to any group that the prefect
thought would engage in illicit activities.
Before the law was promulgated, the senate
president referred to it to the Constitutional
Council, then it was deemed unconstitutional.