The Government of France

INTRODUCTION

France is a country located in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France, the mainland in Europe, borders the Bay of Biscay, English Channel, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Monaco, Andorra, and Luxembourg. France is linked to the United Kingdom by the Channel Tunnel, which passes underneath the English Channel. The government system is a republic; the chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. France has a mixed economic system which includes a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic planning and government regulation. France is a member of the European Union (EU).

THE CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE

The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, and replaced that of the Fourth Republic dating from 1946. Charles de Gaulle was the main driving force in introducing the new constitution and inaugurating the Fifth Republic, while the text was drafted by Michel Debré. Since then the constitution has been amended twenty-four times, through 2008.

THE GOVERNMENT IN FRANCE

The Government of the French Republic (French: Gouvernement de la République française) exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who is the head of government, and both junior and senior ministers. Senior ministers are titled as Ministers (French: Ministres), whereas junior ministers are titled as Secretaries of State (French: Secrétaires d’État). A smaller and more powerful executive body, called the Council of Ministers (French: Conseil des ministres), is composed only of the senior ministers, though some Secretaries of State may attend Council meetings. The Council of Ministers is chaired by the President of the Republic, unlike the government, but is still led by the Prime Minister, who was officially titled as the President of the Council of Ministers (French: Président du Conseil des ministres) during the Third and Fourth Republics.

THE GOVERNMENT SYSTEM OF FRANCE

Appointed by the President of the Republic (Head of State), the Prime Minister is the Head of Government. He “directs the actions of the Government” (article 21 of the Constitution) and in principle sets out the essential political guidelines which, except in the case of cohabitation, are those of the President of the Republic. He must also ensure the coordination of Government action and prevent different ministers from taking contradictory initiatives through his arbitration. He is not the hierarchical superior of the other ministers. He may never force them to take a decision which they are unwilling to take responsibility for, but he may suggest their dismissal to the President in the event of serious misconduct. This role of overseeing Government action is facilitated by certain components: the Prime Minister, in the name of the Government, “shall have at its disposal the civil service” (art. 20), internal services located at the Hôtel Matignon (General Secretariat of the Government, cabinet, etc.) and a large number of services assigned to it.

The Prime Minister ensures the implementation of laws and exercises regulatory power, subject to the signature by the Head of State of ordinances and decrees which have been deliberated upon in the Council of Ministers. He may, in exceptional circumstances, replace the President of the Republic as chairman of the Council of Ministers. He is also responsible for national defense, even though the broad guidelines are often set by the President of the Republic.

The ministers and ministers of state are appointed by the President of the Republic upon a proposal of the Prime Minister. Their powers are centred on two main missions. On the one hand, the ministers head a ministerial department. In addition, ministers are responsible for the supervision of public legal entities acting within their ministerial department’s field of competence. In principle, ministers do not hold regulatory power (that is the power to dictate general standards), except in the administration over their own ministerial department. Regulatory power is generally exercised by the Prime Minister, who may delegate the exercise of this power to his ministers. However, the latter must countersign the decrees of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister pertaining to the areas falling within their competence.

On the other hand, ministers are entrusted with a political mission. Their primary role is one of impetus and implementation of Government policy. Participation in political life was traditionally part of their activities under the Third and Fourth Republics. Now, with the exception of election periods during which the ministers are enlisted, the political aspect of their activity is limited to the Council of Ministers and Parliament where discussion is opened up on a particular aspect of Government activity.

THE 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 sovereigntyas defined by the Declaration of 1789.”

The political system of France consists of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. Executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic and the Government. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, and is responsible to Parliament. The government, including the Prime Minister, can be revoked by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, through a “censure motion”; this ensures that the Prime Minister is always supported by a majority of the lower house (which, on most topics, has prominence over the upper house).

Parliament comprises the National Assembly and the Senate. It passes statutes and votes on the budget; it controls the action of the executive through formal questioning on the floor of the houses of Parliament and by establishing commissions of inquiry. The constitutionality of the statutes is checked by the Constitutional Council, members of which are appointed by the President of the Republic, the President of the National Assembly, and the President of the Senate. Former presidents of the Republic also are members of the Council.

The independent judiciary is based upon civil law system which evolved from the Napoleonic codes. It is divided into the judicial branch (dealing with civil law and criminal law) and the administrative branch (dealing with appeals against executive decisions), each with their own independent supreme court of appeal: the Court of Cassation for the judicial courts and the Conseil d’Etat for the administrative courts. The French government includes various bodies that check abuses of power and independent agencies.

France is a unitary state. However, its administrative subdivisions—regions, departments and communes—have various legal functions, and the national government is prohibited from intruding into their normal operations.

REFERENCE

“France: The role of the president”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

 “France” (PDF). Access to justice in Europe: an overview of challenges and opportunities. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. p. 1. France has a unique organisation of its courts and tribunals which are divided into two orders: the judiciary justice and the administrative justice.

“Background Notes on Countries of the World 2003”. Superintendent of Documents. October 1994

“How Government works”. Government of France. Retrieved 6 December 2014.

 “France backs constitution reform”. BBC News. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 4 September2009.

 Popiel, Jennifer; Carnes, Mark; Kates, Gary (2015). Rousseau, Burke, and Revolution in France, 1791 (Second ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 29

Pertue, M. “Constitution de 1791,” in Soboul, Ed., “Dictionnaire historique de la Revolution francaise,” pp. 282–83.

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