An Introduction to French Legal Culture

Les DOM-ROM (DROM) are Guadeloupe, Réunion, Mayotte, Guyane, and Martinique, situated in the Caribbean, South America and the Indian Ocean. The five collectivités d’outre-mer are French Polynesia, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis, and Futuna. See Constitution of 1958 Art. 72-3, https://​www.​conseil-constitutionnel.​fr/​en/​constitution-of-4-october-1958.

If the DOM are included, the population is 68 million (2023). See https://​www.​insee.​fr/​fr/​statistiques/​6687000.

From Maghreb, the northwest region of Africa.

See the Act of 1905 on the Separation of the Churches and the State and the Constitution of 1958 Art. 1: ‘France shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic. It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs. (…)’ Secularism has become a principle of constitutional value with the constitutions of 27 October 1946 (Fourth Republic) and 4 October 1958 (Fifth Republic).

According to the Organisation mondiale de la francophonie. See https://​www.​francophonie.​org/​qui-sommes-nous-5.

See http://​data.​worldbank.​org/​data-catalog/​GDP-ranking-table.

See https://​hdr.​undp.​org/​data-center/​human-development-index#/​indicies/​HDI.

Chambres d’agriculture, ‘French Agriculture. Key Figures’, available at http://​www.​chambres-agriculture.​fr/​fileadmin/​user_​upload/​National/​002_​inst-site-chambres/​pages/​infos_​eco/​FicheAgri_​Anglais.​pdf.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), International Tourism Highlights, 2019 Edition 9, available at https://​www.​e-unwto.​org/​doi/​epdf/​10.​18111/​9789284421152. The UNWTO is the United Nation’s agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

Ministère de la cohésion des territoires et des relations avec les collectivités territoriales (2021), Les collectivités locales en chiffres 2021, https://​www.​collectivites-locales.​gouv.​fr/​files/​Accueil/​DESL/​2021/​Colloc%20​en%20​chiffres/​Chapitre%20​2%20​-%20​Les%20​collectivit%C3%A9s%20​locales%20​et%20​leur%20​population-2021_​Pr%C3%A9sentation_​Web.​pdf. Assemblée nationale, Fiche de synthèse: L’organisation territoriale de la France, https://​www2.​assemblee-nationale.​fr/​decouvrir-l-assemblee/​role-et-pouvoirs-de-l-assemblee-nationale/​les-institutions-francaises-generalites/​l-organisation-territoriale-de-la-france. On the municipalities’ self-government, see Stokstad (2012). See also Angélique Négroni (2016), available at https://​www.​lefigaro.​fr/​actualite-france/​2016/​01/​07/​01016-20160107ARTFIG00​005-il-n-y-a-plus-36000-communes-en-france.​php.

See Article 72 of the Constitution, second and third paragraphs.

See the Constitution Art. 72 and following; Code général des collectivités territoriales concerning the administrative levels. Codes, statutes, case law, and other sources of law (including some English translations) can be found at https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr.

Loi organique n° 2014–125 du 14 février 2014 interdisant le cumul de fonctions exécutives locales avec le mandat de député ou de sénateur; Rovan (2013), available at https://​www.​lefigaro.​fr/​politique/​2013/​07/​05/​01002-20130705ARTFIG00​626-vers-la-fin-du-depute-maire.​php; Le Nouvel observateur, ‘Fin du cumul des mandats: ce que changera la loi’, Le Nouvel observateur (2014), available at https://​www.​nouvelobs.​com/​politique/​cumul-des-mandats/​20140120.​OBS3104/​fin-du-cumul-des-mandats-ce-que-changera-la-loi.​html. One well known example is the conservative politician Alain Juppé, who during the years 1995–97 was prime minister and at the same time mayor of Bordeaux, a city of approximately 230,000 inhabitants.

Elliott et al. (2006); the Constitution Arts. 8 and 21. See also http://​www.​gouvernement.​fr.

Article L.O. 121 of the Electoral Code.

Smith (2009), pp. 69–70.

Wijffels (2014), p. 261; Dictionnaire Le Petit Larousse illustré (2016), p. 1503.

Smith (2009), pp. 69–70.

See Bell (2001).

In addition, one should not forget that what characterises the French legal culture is also all the peculiarities of the legal language, the legal terminology that French lawyers use almost exclusively. Until 3–4 years ago and the reform simplifying the way judgments are written, it was very difficult, if not impossible, for outsiders to understand French court decisions, due to their language and structure.

In that respect, the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêt signed by King Francis I of France in 1539 constitutes a milestone in French law: French became the official language of law and administration, in place of Latin, thereby contributing to facilitate the proper understanding of administrative and judicial acts, but also to consolidate the monarchic power.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 enounces that the rights listed are ‘natural, unalienable and sacred’. It is a core statement of the values of the French Revolution, such as liberty and equality. It has had a tremendous impact on the development of popular conceptions of individual liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide. It is referred to in the Preamble of the French Constitution and became a source of law with a constitutional status in 1971. See the official translation at https://​www.​conseil-constitutionnel.​fr/​sites/​default/​files/​as/​root/​bank_​mm/​anglais/​cst2.​pdf.

For example, Section 13 of the Act enunciates that: ‘Judicial functions are distinct and will always remain separate from administrative functions. Judges shall not, under penalty of forfeiture, disturb, in any manner whatsoever, the operations of the administrative bodies, nor shall they summon before them the administrators on account of their functions’.

Code de procédure civile (1806), Code de commerce (1807), Code pénal (1810), and Code d’instruction criminelle (1811). The best known of the five codes, the Code civil, brings together all the rules which determine civil rights (Book I), goods and various changes in ownership (Book II), different ways of acquiring property (Book III), and suretyship (Book IV).

Interestingly, the republican form of government ‘shall not be the object of any [constitutional] amendment’ (see Art. 89 of the Constitution).

Loi n° 2021-1109 du 24 août 2021 confortant le respect des principes de la République.

See https://​journals.​openedition.​org/​rdr/​1759.

The webpages of the French Ministry of Justice contain information about (amongst other things) the justice organisation and statistics, see http://​www.​justice.​gouv.​fr NB: In the draft constitutional law for a renewal of democratic life presented to the Council of Ministers on 28 August 2019, the abolition of the Court of Justice of the Republic was again proposed, with ministers to be tried by the Paris Court of Appeal instead. The bill was not discussed.

The reorganisation of the cours d’assises is planned, following the experiment with the cours criminelles départementales, see https://​www.​vie-publique.​fr/​loi/​279445-loi-confiance-dans-linstitution-judiciaire-reforme-dupond-moretti; https://​www.​actu-juridique.​fr/​breves/​procedure-penale/​experimentation-des-cours-criminelles-departementales-precisions-sur-le-comite-devaluation-et-de-suivi/​; https://​www.​lemonde.​fr/​societe/​article/​2021/​05/​06/​qu-est-ce-que-la-cour-criminelle-departementale-que-le-gouvernement-souhaite-generaliser_​6079362_​3224.​html. Normally, the departmental criminal courts (cours criminelles départementales), composed of five magistrates and without a popular jury, competent for crimes punishable by 15 to 20 of imprisonment, will be generalised in all departments in 2023.

See Ordinance No. 2019-964 of 18 September 2019, issued in application of Law No. 2019-222 of 23 March 2019 on programming for 2018–2022 and reform of the justice system.

Chapus (2008), p. 101; Perrot (2010), p. 237.

Code de justice administrative Art. R 311-1 (hereafter CJA).

Cour d’appel de Paris: https://​www.​cours-appel.​justice.​fr/​paris/​la-cour-dappel-de-paris; Cour de cassation: https://​www.​courdecassation.​fr/​la-cour/​lorganisation-de-la-cour-de-cassation/​les-six-chambres-de-la-cour-de-cassation; Conseil d’Etat: https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​qui-sommes-nous/​le-conseil-d-etat/​organisation/​organigramme-general; Perrot (2010), p. 101.

Terré (2012), p. 16; Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 89 and 95–96; Labetoulle (2022): https://​www.​dalloz-actualite.​fr/​interview/​merite-d-un-code-tient-d-abord-son-utilite-concrete. Two last codes have just been adopted: the code on civil service (Ordinance of 24 November 2021 concerning the legislative part—OJ of 5 December 2021) and the penitentiary code (see Ordinance of 30 March 2022, legislative part applicable on 1 May 2022 and decree of 30 March 2022 for the regulatory part).

Holle (2013), pp. 224–225.

For all statistics, see Le Ministère de la Justice, ‘Les chiffres-clés de la Justice 2022’ (2022).

Following the Guinchard report, which set out the ‘reasoned ambition of a calmer justice system’ (report to the Minister of Justice dated 30 June 2008), Act No. 2021-1729 of 22 December 2021 on confidence in the judicial system, was passed and contains provisions relating to the main principles of criminal procedure. See Daoud (2022), ‘Loi pour la confiance dans l’institution judiciaire: dispositions relatives aux grands principes de procédure pénale’, https://​www.​dalloz-actualite.​fr/​flash/​loi-pour-confiance-dans-l-institution-judiciaire-dispositions-relatives-aux-grands-principes-d.

However, cases concerning neglect of children (which in part would be considered administrative cases in for instance Norway), are decided by the judicial courts and judges (like juge des enfants). Also, the largest specialised administrative court, the National Court of Asylum (La Cour nationale du droit de l’asile), decided 67,142 cases in 2022.

See Conseil d’Etat, ‘Rapport public 2020’ et ‘Chiffres clés 2022 de la juridiction administrative’, https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​publications-colloques/​rapports-d-activite/​l-annee-2022-en-quelques-chiffres-cles.

See a detailed overview in Farcy (2003), pp. 872 ff.

There is a saying: ‘To judge the administration is also to administer’. (‘Juger l’administration, c’est aussi administrer’.) See Wijffels (2014), pp. 263–163; Chapus (2001), p. 748 with references to and quotes from loi des 16–24 août 1790 titre 2 Art. 13; Rouault (2000), p. 71. Letting parts of the administration judge another part of the administration was not considered inconsistent with the doctrine of separation of powers. Montesquieu limited the field of the judicial power to crimes (‘les crimes’) and private disputes (‘les différends des particuliers’); and not disputes between private persons and the administration. See Montesquieu (1748), pp. 237–247 (Book 11, Chapter 6); Chapus (2001), p. 40.

Chapus (2001), p. 749; Chapus (2008), pp. 39–40; Pacteau (2005), p. 40; Rouault (2000), p. 41.

The decisions were formally binding from 1872.

Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 573–576; Farcy (2003), p. 875. The administrative courts also function as advisory organs for the executive authorities. For the lower instances, this advisory work is of a modest extent, but the Conseil d’Etat’s advisory missions for the government is one of the organ’s two main roles (the other one being, of course, the highest administrative court). See organisation-map (and information about the court, cases, studies, etc.) here: http://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​.

Loi du 24 mai 1872 relative au Tribunal des conflits and décret n° 2015-233 du 27 février 2015 relatif au Tribunal des conflits et aux questions préjudicielles; Waline (2012), pp. 604 ff; Rouault (2000), pp. 92–94 and 100–105.

See more in Debard et al. (2021). In 2022, 65% of the 28 decisions concluded to the competence of the judicial tribunals. See Tribunal des Conflits, ‘Rapport annuel d’activité du Tribunal des conflits pour l’année 2022’, http://​www.​tribunal-conflits.​fr/​documents/​rapports-annuels/​rapport-annuel-activite-tc-2022.​pdf, p. 53.

Perrot (2010), pp. 38–39; Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 530–537; Conseil d’Etat, ‘La justice administrative en pratique’ (2001), pp. 23 ff. See also Chapus (2001), pp. 825 ff, 947 ff; Eveillard, ‘Fusionner les juridictions administratives et judiciaires ?’, Revue générale du droit (www.​revuegeneraledud​roit.​eu), Etudes et documents, 2019; Boucobza (2021).

Sauvé (2017).

‘Pour l’unité de juridiction’ - Tribune de Bertrand Louvel, 25 July 2017, https://​www.​courdecassation.​fr/​toutes-les-actualites/​2017/​07/​25/​pour-lunite-de-juridiction-tribune-de-bertrand-louvel.

See Article 61-1 of the Constitution; “La Constitution reconnaît deux ordres de juridiction au sommet desquels sont placés le Conseil d’Etat et la Cour de cassation.”—Conseil constitutionnel, 2010-71 QPC, 26 November 2010, cons. 35; Duhamel (2011), pp. 183–191. See also Boucobza (2021).

See ‘Rapport de la Commission de réflexion sur la “Cour de cassation 2030”’ (July 2021), https://​www.​courdecassation.​fr/​la-cour-de-cassation/​demain/​cour-de-cassation-2030.

Code de procédure pénale Art. 240 and 254; Code de l’organisation judiciaire Art. L 251-3; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 62–63; European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) Report on ‘European judicial systems—Edition 2014 (2012 data): efficiency and quality of justice’ (2014), p. 158. See https://​rm.​coe.​int/​cepej-report-on-european-judicial-systems-edition-2014-2012-data-effic/​16807882a1.

Steiner (2018), p. 193. See loi n°2016–1547 du 18 novembre 2016 de modernisation de la justice du XXIe siècle. See also the reform concerning mainly improvement and simplification of civil and criminal procedure, digital processing, effectiveness of sentences, and adaptation of the judicial organisation: loi n° 2019-222 du 23 mars 2019 de programmation 2018–2022 et de réforme pour la justice, https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr/​jorf/​id/​JORFSCTA00003826​1634. See also https://​www.​lexbase.​fr/​article-juridique/​69692262-actes-de-colloques-la-simplification-de-la-procedure-devant-le-tribunal-judiciaire. Frequent reforms have also been ‘admitted’ by the former vice-president of the Conseil d’Etat, Jean-Marc Sauvé: ‘Je l’ai dit: l’histoire de la juridiction administrative est scandée par les réformes; il n’est pas de décennie qui, depuis 1799, n’ait été une époque de changement et d’innovation’. (‘I said it: the history of administrative jurisdiction is marked by reforms; there is no decade that, since 1799, has not been a time of change and innovation’.) Quote taken from his lecture (written in collaboration with Chloé Szafran) during a conference about ‘La réforme de la justice administrative’, Faculté de droit de Poitiers (2008), see: https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​publications-colloques/​discours-et-interventions/​la-reforme-de-la-justice-administrative.

Bell et al. (2008), pp. 113–115; Steiner (2018), p. 199. In 2020, there were in civil and penal cases 865.897 admissions of legal aid of the total amount of 276.7 million Euro. See Code de l’organisation judiciaire Art. L.111-2; CJA Art. R. 441-1; décret no. 91-1266 du 19 décembre 1991; See Ministère de la Justice, ‘L’aide Juridictionnelle’, https://​www.​justice.​fr/​simulateurs/​aide-juridictionnelle​; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 282–283; Chapus (2008), p. 449; See Ministère de la Justice, ‘Les chiffres-clés de la Justice 2021’ (2021), p. 28. In many cases there is no obligation to be represented by a lawyer, but an ongoing reform aims to expand the obligation for the more complex cases, see Ministère de la justice, ‘Chantiers de la justice. Les axes de la reforme’ (2018), p. 7.

Code de procédure pénale Art. 365-1.

Chapus (2008), p. 834; Steiner (2018), p. 195.

Code de procédure civile Art. 21, 127–131-15; CJA Art. L. 114-1, L213-1–L2113-10; See also ‘Qu’est-ce que la mediation administrative?’, https://​www.​service-public.​fr/​particuliers/​vosdroits/​F34480.

Code de procédure civile Arts. 10 and 12; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 102–103.

Bell et al. (2008), p. 284.

Code de l’organisation judiciaire Art. L 212-1; CJA Art. R. 222-18, see also for instance R. 222-20 on plenary compositions. See also the new modifications of the code of administrative justice since the adoption of a Decree No. 2016-1480 and a Decree No. 2016-1481 of 2 November 2016, also known as Justice administrative de demain (JADE), then the Act No. 2016-1547 of 18 November 2016 on the modernization of the Justice of the twenty-first century, as well as the decree of 7 February 2019 in order to accelerate the processing of litigations. The Act of No. 2019-222 of 23 March 2019 on programming for 2018–2022 and the reform of justice also contains provisions relating to administrative litigation.

See Conseil d’Etat, ‘Le Conseil d’Etat et la justice administrative en 2012’ 30.

See Ministère de la Justice, ‘Chantiers de la justice. Les axes de la reforme’ (2018), p. 5, available at http://​www.​justice.​gouv.​fr/​le-garde-des-sceaux-10016/​archives-2018-nicole-belloubet-12988/​chantiers-de-la-justice-les-axes-de-la-reforme-devoiles-33358.​html.

Perrot (2010), p. 42.

Bell et al. (2008), p. 3.

The Code of Administrative Justice has undergone numerous changes to adapt the practice of administrative litigation to the evolution of technology, while ensuring that all jurisdictional procedures are harmonised. Lawyers must file appeals by remote submission (télérecours) since 1 January 2017 (R. 414-1, R.611-8-2 and R.611-8-3 of the CJA) and for citizens, since 30 November 2018. See Conseil d'Etat, Télérecours - Les téléprocédures devant les juridictions administratives, https://​www.​telerecours.​fr.

This part of the process (for instance which documents needs to be communicated) is regulated in CJA Art. R. 611-1 and following and R. 612-6; Chabanol (2013), p. 281; Lepage and Huglo (2013), pp. 5 ff and 627 ff.

CJA Art. R. 621-1 and following; Chapus (2008), pp. 831, 833 ff. and 864 ff; Lepage and Huglo (2013), pp. 659–660; Pacteau (2005), pp. 158 ff; Chapus (2001), pp. 790 and 934 ff; Chabanol (2013), pp. 219–220. In French-Latin, the expression of the limitation of the judges’ powers by the parties’ claims, etc., is expressed as a prohibition against judging ultra petita and infra petita (interdiction de statuter ultra petita and infra petita). In the civil courts this is expressed in Code de procédure civile Art. 464; Steiner (2018), p. 141. Examples of requirements made by the judge are requests for more documentation from the parties (demandes d’explications ou de documents), view (visite des lieux), witness statement (enquête) or request the opinion of independent experts (expertise). A relatively recent decision from Conseil d’Etat gives precisions about the judges’ responsibilities and limits during the process, see Conseil d’Etat, La Lettre de la justice administrative no. 37 (January 2015) 2, with reference to the case: CE, Section, 1er octobre 2014, M B., No. 349560, https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​publications-colloques/​lettre-de-la-justice-administrative/​lettre-de-la-justice-administrative/​lettre-de-la-justice-administrative-n-37.

CJA Art. L. 7 and R. 222-23. The mission of the rapporteur public (formerly called commissaire du gouvernement) has been described like this in the case Gervaise CE Sect. 10 juillet 1957 and cited in Chapus (2008), pp. 901–903: ‘… le commissaire du gouvernement a pour mission d’exposer les questions que présente à juger chaque recours contentieux et de faire connaître, en formulant en toute indépendance ses conclusions, son appréciation, qui doit être impartiale, sur les circonstances de fait de l’espèce et les règles de droit applicables, ainsi que son opinion sur les solutions qu’appelle, suivant sa conscience, le litige soumis à la juridiction à laquelle il appartient’. (…the role of the commissaire du gouvernement to set out the questions presented by each contentious appeal and to make known, by formulating his or her conclusions independently, his or her assessment, which must be impartial, on the factual circumstances of the case and the applicable rules of law, as well as his opinion on the solutions which, according to his conscience, call for the dispute submitted to the court to which he belongs.). On the role of the rapporteur public, see also Gardien (2017).

See Conseil d’Etat, Bilan annuel 2020, pp. 7 and 31, https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​publications-colloques/​rapports-d-activite/​bilan-d-activite-2020.

See Décision 2022-152 ORGA du 11 mars 2022, Décision portant règlement intérieur sur la procédure suivie devant le Conseil constitutionnel pour les déclarations de conformité à la Constitution, http://​www.​senat.​fr/​rap/​r21-592/​r21-5926.​html.

For an expert comment, see Verpeaux (2022).

Bell et al. (2008), pp. 52–54.

Arbitration is regulated in the Code the procédure civile, Art. 1442–1503.

See Art. L213-1 to L213-13 and R213-1 to R213-9 of the Administrative Justice Code.

Décret no. 2022-433 du 25 mars 2022 relatif à la procédure de mediation préalable obligatoire applicable à certains litiges de la function publique et à certains litiges sociaux, https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr/​jorf/​id/​JORFTEXT00004541​2363.

Loi n° 2016-1547 du 18 novembre 2016 de modernisation de la justice du XXIe siècle Art. 4.

For more information, see: https://​www.​conciliateurs.​fr/​Qu-est-ce-que-la-conciliation-de-justice-mai-2021. See also code civil Art. 2044–2052 on la transaction, which is a contract by which the parties, by reciprocal concessions, terminate a born dispute, or prevent an unborn dispute. For administrative disputes, see Code des relations entre le public et l’administration, book IV: Dispute resolution with the administration (Le règlement des différends avec l’administration), Articles L410-1 to L424-1.

For a list of AAIs and APIs, see https://​www.​vie-publique.​fr/​fiches/​20238-autorites-administratives-independantes-aai-et-api or their list in the annex to the law https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr/​jorf/​id/​JORFTEXT00003389​7475. The independent public authorities (API) are a creation of the 2017 law. The competences of the AAI and the API vary from one to the other. They may have the power to issue opinions or recommendations, and some have the power to make individual decisions. They may also have regulatory powers, consisting in organising a sector of activity by establishing rules. Finally, AAIs and APIs may have the power to sanction. The regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM) is an API, and the Autorité de la concurrence, France’s national competition regulator, and the Défenseur des droits are AAI.

Loi organique n° 2011-333 du 29 mars 2011 relative au Défenseur des droits, Article 26; https://​www.​defenseurdesdroi​ts.​fr/​fr/​institution/​moyens/​protection.

See https://​www.​service-public.​fr/​particuliers/​vosdroits/​F34528.

Code de la consommation Art. L611-1–L616-3; https://​www.​economie.​gouv.​fr/​mediation-conso.

Steiner (2018), p. 170; Azouaou (2022), p. 686.

Ordonnance n° 2021-702 du 2 juin 2021 portant réforme de l’encadrement supérieur de la fonction publique de l’Etat, https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr/​jorf/​id/​JORFTEXT00004359​0607. Indeed, although it contains few provisions specific to members of the administrative courts (all of Chapter II of the Ordinance of 2 June), these are now considered as ‘special civil servants’ (fonctionnaires à part), although in charge of control functions within a jurisdictional framework, as they remain high-level civil servants and are subject to the principles of mobility, openness, and evaluation.

Perrot (2010), pp. 303 and 305; CJA Art. L. 133-6 and L. 233-1 and following. Advancement in the Conseil d’Etat is formally decided by the Conseil des ministres; CJA Art. L. 133-1 and following and L. 132-2. See more detailed regulation in Art. R. 134-1 and following.

See Sect. 7.2. Perrot (2010), pp. 288 ff and 295 ff; CJA Art. L. 133-7, L. 233-3, L. 233-4; Guinchard et al. (2007), pp. 856–859; Azouaou (2022), pp. 689–691.

On the guarantees of the independence of administrative magistrates: Conseil constitutionnel, 10 January 1995, No. 94-355; Conseil constitutionnel, 4 August 2011, No. 2011-1638; Conseil constitutionnel 21 June 2019 No. 2019-779. See ordonnance no. 58-1270 du 22 décembre 1958 concerning the status of the judicial judges.

Decision from the Conseil constitutionnel: 119 DC du 22 juillet 1980; Guinchard et al. (2007), p. 863.

CJA, Art. L. 131-1 to L 136-7 and L. 231-1 to L. 236-7.

CJA, Art. L. 231-3. But at the same time, the judges are not supposed to work for too long at the same court, and such limitations are considered to be in accordance with the principle of irremovability. When changing court, judges will not lose his or hers place in the body of judges (corps). CJA Art. L. 234-2 to L 234-6 and R. 235-1 and 235-2; The Constitution Art. 64–65; ordonnance 58-1270 du 22 décembre 1958 Art. 4; Perrot, pp. 298–300; For the judiciary, the irremovability of judges is provided for in Article 64 of the Constitution. It is only a legislative provision, Article L. 231-3 of the CJA, which provides that ‘When they perform their duties as magistrates in an administrative court, the magistrates of the administrative tribunals and the administrative courts of appeal may not receive, without their consent, a new assignment, even for promotion’. Even if the texts do not guarantee the irremovability of the members of the Council of State, in practice, this guarantee exists, except in very exceptional situations, such as in 1940–44. Perrot (2010), p. 38; Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 514–515.

Perrot (2010), p. 38: Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 514–515.

Bell et al. (2008), p. 10.

French sources of law (including contested ‘sources’ and short explanations of the legal system) are found at https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr.

Article 2 of the Constitution is echoing Art. 2 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789; The Constitution Art. 2 last paragraph: ‘The principle of the Republic shall be: government of the people, by the people and for the people’.; Bell et al. (2008), p. 14.

Elliott et al. (1998), pp. 17–18; The Constitution Art. 89. Note that the revision of the Constitution by the Constitutional Law of 23 July 2008 on the reform of the institutions has increased the powers of parliament and the rights of citizens.

Marais (2014), pp. 106–107; Chapus (2001), pp. 68–69.

See https://​www.​conseil-constitutionnel.​fr/​le-conseil-constitutionnel/​presentation-generale.

The Constitution of 4 October 1958 Art. 61 and 61-1. See Steiner (2018), pp. 6–7; Perrot (2010), pp. 30–31.

See for instance Arts. 6 of the Constitution on presidential elections and 65 on the status of judges.

Chapus (2001), p. 80.

The Constitution Art. 11.

The Constitution Art. 38.

Smith (2009), p. 77.

The Constitution Arts. 10, 24, 39–45 and 60, see http://​www.​journal-officiel.​gouv.​fr/​.

Marais (2014), p. 107; Steiner (2018), pp. 9–13; Chapus (2001), pp. 67 and 79–81. Read more about règlements on 649–695.

Steiner (2018), p. 10; Chapus (2001), pp. 665 ff.

Between 1984 and 2006, 314 ordonnances were published—two thirds between 2000 and 2006. Some raised the question whether this was not an abuse of delegated legislation. See Marais (2014), pp. 108–109; Chapus (2001), p. 82.

And 35 in 2012, according to email from C. Garcia, La Direction de l’information légale et administrative (19 December 2014).

Sénat, Bilan annuel de l’application des lois au 31 mars 2021, http://​www.​senat.​fr/​notice-rapport/​2020/​r20-645-notice.​html; See also the indicators of normative activity for 2021 published by the government.

Marais (2014), pp. 117–118; Code pénal Art. 111-5; Perrot (2010), p. 32; Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 528–529.

The control of the legality of règlements autonomes is more limited than the control of règlements d’application, see Chapus (2001), pp. 79 and 28. See also p. 702.

See Legifrance, https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr/​; https://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr/​contenu/​Media/​Files/​autour-de-la-loi/​legislatif-et-reglementaire/​statistiques-de-la-norme/​indicateurs-de-suivi-de-l-activite-normative-2021-format-pdf-4-3-mo.​pdf.

French professor Tallon (1979), cited in Steiner (2018), p. 30. See also Bureau (2003), pp. 225–230.

Bureau (2003), p. 226.

Loi no. 2013-1005 du 12 novembre 2013 habilitant le Gouvernement à simplifier les relations entre l’administration et les citoyens; Ordonnance n° 2015-1341 du 23 octobre 2015 relative aux dispositions législatives du code des relations entre le public et l’administration; Décret n° 2015-1342 du 23 octobre 2015 relatif aux dispositions réglementaires du code des relations entre le public et l’administration.

Terré (2012), pp. 71–79.

Sauvé (2015).

Décret n°89-647 du 12 septembre 1989 relatif à la composition et au fonctionnement de la Commission supérieure de codification. See also: https://​www.​gouvernement.​fr/​commission-superieure-de-codification.

Steiner (2018), pp. 30–31.

Loi n° 99-1071 du 16 décembre 1999 portant habilitation du Gouvernement à procéder, par ordonnances, à l’adoption de la partie Législative de certains codes; Bureau (2003), p. 229; Bell et al. (2008), p. 24.

Bureau (2003), p. 230. But the EU law has been incorporated in the Code civil.

Chapus (2001), pp. 85–87; Sauvé (2015), n 101, II A 2.

Bureau (2003), p. 226; See loi du 16 décembre 1999; Chapus (2001), pp. 85–87; Loi no. 2013-1005 du 12 novembre 2013 habilitant le Gouvernement à simplifier les relations entre l’administration et les citoyens.

Décret n°89-647 du 12 septembre 1989 relatif à la composition et au fonctionnement de la Commission supérieure de codification; Steiner (2018), pp. 38–39 and 40–41; Bell et al. (2008), p. 24. See also the annual reports of the Commission supérieure de codification, available at https://​www.​vie-publique.​fr/​rapport/​276211-commission-superieure-de-codification-trentieme-rapport-annuel-2019.

Cf. Art. 55; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 17–19; Chapus (2001), pp. 133–134; Terré (2012), pp. 215–217. See Afroukh (2020); Dutheillet de Lamothe (n.d.); Braconnay (2019); https://​www.​vie-publique.​fr/​fiches/​38297-arrets-de-la-cedh-quelles-consequences-sur-la-justice-francaise.

This practice has been considered to be in conformity with Article 6 of the Convention, see Marc-Antoine v France App no. 54984/04 (ECtHR, 4 June 2013, decision); Sauvé and Fuchs (2014); Sauvé and Eustache (2014), Steiner (2018), pp. 200–201.

Cass. civ. 1, 4 décembre 2013, n°12-26066, Bull. I n°234.

CE Ass., 31 mai 2016, Gonzalez-Gomez, n° 396848.

On the ‘quiet revolution’, see Jestaz et al. (2014), Roulhac (2019), Marguénaud (2018) and Girard (2016).

Chapter XV—On the European Union.

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) Art. 288; Chapus (2001), p. 135; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 19–20.

Perrot (2010), pp. 31–32.

Steiner (2018), p. 270.

Terré (2012), pp. 317–328; Bell et al. (2008), p. 25; Steiner (2012), p. 51; Elliott et al. (1998), p. 32.

Code pénal Art. 521-1; Marais (2014), pp. 128–129.

Eckoff and Smith (2018), p. 519.

Smith (2009); Steiner (2018), pp. 64–66; Elliott et al. (1998), p. 30; Code civil Art. 5: ‘Il est défendu aux juges de prononcer par voie de disposition générale et réglementaire sur les causes qui leur sont soumises’. (‘In the cases that are referred to them, judges are forbidden to pronounce judgment by way of general and regulatory dispositions’.) And Art. 1355: ‘L’autorité de la chose jugée n’a lieu qu’à l’égard de ce qui a fait l’objet du jugement. Il faut que la chose demandée soit la même; que la demande soit fondée sur la même cause; que la demande soit entre les mêmes parties, et formée par elles et contre elles en la même qualité’. (‘The authority of res judicata applies only to what was the object of a judgment. It is necessary that the thing claimed be the same; that the claim be based on the same cause; that the claim be between the same parties and brought by them and against them acting in the same qualities’.).

Steiner (2018), p. 64.

Bell et al. (2008), p. 31.

The Constitution Art. 62 and Code de l’organisation judiciaire Art. L 431-6; Marais (2014), pp. 135–136; Steiner (2018), pp. 64 and 68–69.

It should be pointed out that what is liable to being quashed by the supreme courts is not the court’s actual following of a precedent, but the explicit statement by the court that it is bound by a judicial precedent.

Steiner (2018), pp. 68–70. Eva Steiner is frequently referred to in this section. She is a Senior Lecturer at King’s College London where she has taught French law for many years. She has been a practicing lawyer at the French Bar and has taught French law for undergraduate and postgraduate students at several of the universities of Paris, see the backing of the cover of her book French legal method (2002).

Steiner (2018), pp. 70–71; Elliott et al. (2006), p. 78.

Bell et al. (2008), p. 7.

It has been suggested that they should feel even more compelled to do so than their common law counterparts, because French judges are not equipped with the same instruments to ‘escape’ precedents. Steiner (2018), pp. 68–73; Terré (2012), pp. 295–296.

Respectively, former president of the Conseil d’Etat’s dispute section (Section du contentieux) and former president of the Conseil d’Etat’s Section du rapport et des études.

Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 281–282, in our translation to English: ‘Case law is not formally a source of legality, except in the case of res judicata which occupies a relatively unimportant place in all of the sources. You cannot overturn an administrative act because it is contrary to a case law decision made a few years earlier in another case. In this sense, it is not theoretically and legally a source of legality. And yet, jurisprudence plays an essential role in this set of sources of legality: first, because it often specifies its scope; second, because it identifies and explains the general principles of law, which are a source in themselves; finally because it is the jurisprudence which developed the theories of acquired rights and res judicata. Consequently, through all of these sources, case law plays an essential role, but it is a practical and not a legal role’.

Marais (2014), p. 150. In the area of administrative law, this is particularly clear, and the late professor René Chapus expressed it like this (in our translation to English), in Droit administratif général (2001), pp. 92–93: ‘If the administrative jurisdiction did nothing else (as is the case, officially, of the judicial courts) than to interpret written law, its role in the formation of administrative law would already be remarkable. But it does much more. … Because administrative law is not codified (in the sense that civil law is), and because no law has ever determined its fundamental concepts and dominant principles, it is up to the administrative judge to be, strictly speaking, “jurislateur”’.

Chapus (2001), p. 92; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 32–33; Marais (2014), pp. 139–140; Steiner (2018), p. 52; Some of Conseil d’Etat’s cases have been translated to English (and other languages), see https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​en/​judging.

Bell et al. (2008), pp. 519–520.

See for instance a case decided by the Conseil d’Etat: Décision no. 345103 (date de lecture: 30/12/2014) and a case before the Cour de cassation: Arrêt n° 1357 du 19 novembre 2014; Elliott et al. (2006), p. 79; Marais (2014), p. 102.

Elliott et al. (2006), pp. 79–80.

Lord Justice Cooper, in a famous address delivered to Edinburgh University in 1950. Cited in Steiner (2018), p. 112.

The Constitution of 4 October 1958 Art. 61 and 61-1. See Steiner (2018), pp. 6–7.

Chapus (2001), p. 117: ‘Il est en effet établi que seule une loi (ou une convention internationale) peut tenir en échec un principe général du droit’. See also pp. 111–112; Perrot (2010), p. 30.

Steiner (2018), pp. 47–48; Marais (2014), pp. 204–205; Terré (2012), pp. 465–466.

Bell et al. (2008), p. 33; Steiner (2018), pp. 45–47, 50 and 153.

Code civil Art. 4: ‘Le juge qui refusera de juger, sous prétexte du silence, de l’obscurité ou de l’insuffisance de la loi, pourra être poursuivi comme coupable de déni de justice’. (‘A judge who refuses to give judgment on the pretext of legislation being silent, obscure or insufficient may be prosecuted for being guilty of a denial of justice’.). Marais (2014), p. 138; Steiner (2018), pp. 46–47 and 111–112; Deguergue et al. (2003), p. 885.

Code civil Art. 1128 as it sounded until 2016: ‘Il n’y a que les choses qui sont dans le commerce qui puissent être l’objet des conventions’. (‘It is only things that are in trade that can be the subject of conventions’.); Marais (2014), p. 140; Steiner (2018), p. 52.

See Court de cassation, Assemblée plénière. Association des centres éducatifs c. Blieck, D. 1991, p. 324. Code civil former Art. 1384, now Art. 1242 first paragraph: ‘On est responsable non seulement du dommage que l’on cause par son propre fait, mais encore de celui qui est causé par le fait des personnes dont on doit répondre, ou des choses que l’on a sous sa garde’. (‘One is responsible not only for the damage caused by one’s own act, but also for that which is caused by the acts of persons for whom one is responsible, or by things that are in one’s custody’.); Steiner (2018), pp. 49–50.

Steiner (2018), pp. 47 and 51. See also a quotation of the French comparative scholar René David from his French law (Baton Rouge 1972) in Bell et al. (2008), p. 25: ‘In the absence of an applicable statute or custom, decisions can be based on principles of equity, reason, justice, or tradition’. But see a more restrictive approach to equity in Terré (2013), p. 287.

See for instance http://​www.​legifrance.​gouv.​fr/​dossiers_​legislatifs.​jsp. Statutes originating from the Parliament are proposition de loi, and statutes originating from the government are called projet de loi. Marais (2014), p. 105; Steiner (2018), pp. 56–57.

Marais (2014), p. 205; Steiner (2018), pp. 47–48 and 57; Elliott et al. (2006), p. 79.

Fouletier (2003), p. 251 (‘Equity is not a norm, but a proceeding of emergences of norm…’).

René David cited in Steiner (2018), p. 51; Terré (2012), pp. 16 and 287.

Steiner (2018), pp. 51–52; Marais (2014), p. 247; Fouletier (2003), pp. 23–24; Terré (2012), p. 15.

Terré (2012), p. 16.

Steiner (2018), pp. 51–52; For references concerning the Défenseur des droits, see loi organique no. 2011-333 du 29 mars 2011 Arts. 6, 25 and 26.

Terré (2012), p. 287: ‘À défaut d’une solution d’équité, le juge doit donc fournir une solution rationnelle: il voudra se déterminer non pas au hazard, mais en se fondant sur des raisons solides, et parmi celles-ci, il y des décisions rendues antérieurement dans des cas identiques. Le juge s’appuiera sur les précédents judiciaires’. (‘In the absence of a solution of fairness, the judge must therefore provide a rational solution: he will want to decide not at random, but on the basis of solid reasons, and among these, there are decisions rendered previously in identical cases. The judge will rely on the judicial precedents’.)

Code de la justice administrative Art. L 321-1, L321-2, L 331-1 and R 321-1; Steiner (2018), pp. 71–72; https://​www.​courdecassation.​fr/​en/​about-court.

In the Cour de cassation they are called l’assemblée plénière and chambre mixte, and in Conseil d’Etat, l’assemblée du contentieux and l’assemblée de section, cf. Code de l’organisation judiciaire Art. L 431-5 and 431-6; CJA Art. R. 122-18 and R. 122-20.

Steiner (2018), pp. 73–74.

Ibid 99–103.

Code de procédure civile Art. 455 first paragraph: ‘Le jugement doit exposer succinctement les prétentions respectives des parties et leurs moyens. Cet exposé peut revêtir la forme d’un visa des conclusions des parties avec l’indication de leur date. Le jugement doit être motivé’. (‘The judgement must set forth succinctly the respective claims of the parties and their grounds. Such presentation may take the form of a reference to the pleadings of the parties with the indication of their date. The judgement must be reasoned’.)

Code de procédure civile Art. 455; Code de la justice administrative Art. L 9; Steiner (2018), pp. 111, 129 and 131; Elliot et al. (2006), p. 83.

See for instance Long et al. (2013); Steiner (2018), pp. 112 and 120–122.

Chapus (2001), pp. 7 and 125.

Steiner (2018), p. 130. The vice-president of the Conseil d’Etat from 2006–2018, Jean-Marc Sauvé, mentioned accessibility and intelligibility of the judicial decisions, as one of the administrative courts’ challenges. See Sauvé and Eustache (2014), p. 6.

Conseil d’Etat, ‘Vade-mecum sur la rédaction des décisions de la juridiction administrative’, available at https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​actualites/​juridiction-administrative-nouveaux-modes-de-redaction-des-decisions.

But the word can also refer to the authors of legal writing (and even other definitions are possible). See Cornu (2001), p. 304.

Marais (2014), pp. 150–152; Chapus (2001), p. 28; Terré (2012), p. 167; Bell et al. (2008), p. 33.

Steiner (2018), pp. 149–155. Legal writings are often characterised as traités (complete views of a topic), précis, manuels (student textbooks), mémentos (short guides to a subject), and casebooks such as Les grands arrêts. See Elliott et al. (1998), p. 83; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 517–519; In 2013, there were 1791 books classified as legal literature published, and there were 41 legal journals registered by the National library (la Bibliographie nationale française), According to email from Mathilde Koskas, Service de la Bibliographie nationale française—Livres, Département du Dépôt légal, Bibliothèque nationale de France (4 December 2014).

Conseil d’Etat, Dossier de presse. Étude annuelle 2013. ‘Le droit souple’. Le résumé, 2, 9; La lettre de la justice administrative no. 33 (December 2013), p. 1; See décision du Tribunal des conflits 16 novembre 2015 n° 4026, Autorité des marchés financiers: compétence des tribunaux administratifs, arrêt Ass. CE du 21 mars 2016, n° 368082 et arrêt Ass. CE, Ste NC Numéricable, 21 mars 2016, n° 390023: extension du recours au droit souple; Arrêt Ass. CE, ‘Association des Américains accidentels’, 19 juillet 2019, n°424216. See C. Champety, Président de la section du contentieux du CE, Le contrôle du droit souple, Youtube, 7 octobre 2021, https://​www.​youtube.​com/​watch?​v=​igOhJ4l6kzU.

Conseil d’Etat, Dossier de presse. Étude annuelle 2013. ‘Le droit souple’. Le résumé 3, 4.

Jean-Pierre Sueur (Président de la Commission des lois du Sénat) in La lettre de la justice administrative no. 33 (December) 2013 p. 1; Conseil d’Etat, Dossier de presse. Étude annuelle 2013. ‘Le droit souple’. Le résumé 3, 9.

https://​blog.​gossement-avocats.​com/​blog/​environnement/​important-droit-souple-un-document-de-portee-generale-peut-faire-l-objet-d-un-recours-en-annulation-conseil-d-etat-12-juin-2020-gisti-n-418142.

Marrais (2014), pp. 200–202; Terré (2012), pp. 273–276; Steiner (2018), pp. 4–5 and 61–62.

Jean-Marc Sauvé, L’entreprise et la sécurité juridique, Conseil d’Etat, 21 novembre 2014, https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​publications-colloques/​discours-et-interventions/​l-entreprise-et-la-securite-juridique; Jean-Marc Sauvé, Les critères de la qualité de la Justice, Conseil d’Etat, 2009, https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​publications-colloques/​discours-et-interventions/​les-criteres-de-la-qualite-de-la-justice. Note that the principle of legal certainty is a general principle of EC law (CJEU 6 February 1962, Bosch, 13/61, Rec. 89) and is ‘necessarily inherent in the law of the Convention as in Community Law’ (ECtHR, 13 June 1979, Marckx v. Belgium, Application No. 6833/74, § 58).

The Declaration also contains other provisions that contribute to legal certainty. See Articles 5, 6 and 7 of the Declaration.

The so-called retroactivity in mitius of a ‘softer’ penal law only comes into play if the offence has been committed before the entry into force of the law and provided that the offence has not given rise to a conviction that has become res judicata. Developed in case law, it is now codified in Article 112-1 of the Penal Code, third paragraph.

Sauvé, L’entreprise et la sécurité juridique, op. cit.

As mentioned earlier, the drafting of judgments has been reformed to simplify them. See note 186, supra. For some years now, judges have been writing their decisions in a much more comprehensible way.

Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieure et de la Recherche, Repères & références statistiques. Edition 2021, 157, 305, https://​www.​education.​gouv.​fr/​reperes-et-references-statistiques-2021-308228#edugouv-summary-item-7.

Elliott et al. (2006), pp. 252–253.

Bell et al. (2008), p. 73; Elliott et al. (2006), p. 256.

Steiner (2018), pp. 156–165.

Ibid, pp. 65–66. And see for instance Marais (2014).

Loi no. 71-1130 du 31 décembre 1971 portant réforme de certaines professions judiciaires et juridiques Arts. 11 and 12; Bell et al. (2008), p. 73. See also https://​www.​cnb.​avocat.​fr/​fr/​toutes-les-conditions-dacces-la-profession.

Les chiffres-clés de la profession d’avocat, https://​www.​cnb.​avocat.​fr/​fr/​les-chiffres-cles-de-la-profession-davocat; With slightly different statistics (68,464 lawyers in January 2021), see Le Ministère de la Justice, Les chiffres-clés de la Justice 2021. Diffusion: Sous-direction de la Statistique et des Études (2021), p. 30.

Loi no. 71-1130 du 31 décembre 1971 Art. 14-2; Bell et al. (2008), pp. 73–74.

Elliott et al. (2006), pp. 243–245.

See https://​www.​vie-publique.​fr/​fiches/​38121-comment-definir-un-magistrat.

See https://​www.​enm.​justice.​fr/​en/​training-courses/​french-judges-and-prosecutors/​initial-training. For more information about the school, see https://​www.​enm.​justice.​fr.

Garanto (2013), pp. 118–119, http://​www.​enm.​justice.​fr.

Bell et al. (2008), pp. 55–68; Steiner (2018), p. 170; Perrot (2010), p. 42.

https://​www.​francetvinfo.​fr/​replay-radio/​le-vrai-du-faux/​y-a-t-il-deux-fois-moins-de-magistrats-en-france-qu-en-allemagne_​4865203.​html (Accessed May 2022). https://​www.​francetvinfo.​fr/​replay-radio/​le-vrai-du-faux/​y-a-t-il-deux-fois-moins-de-magistrats-en-france-qu-en-allemagne_​4865203.​html (Accessed October 2022); https://​www.​enm.​justice.​fr/​en/​training-courses/​french-judges-and-prosecutors/​initial-training.

This ranking and automatic transfer to vacant positions has been criticised. According to l’ENA (by mail from E. Doriry, 18 February 2014).

Chapus (2001), p. 49; Smith (2009), p. 74; Braibant and Stirn (2005), pp. 514–515.

Latour (2002), p. 124.

Ordonnance du 2 juin 2021 portant réforme de l’encadrement supérieur de la fonction publique de l’État.

The INSP was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 28 January 2022. For more information about the INSP, see https://​insp.​gouv.​fr/​. See also https://​www.​conseil-etat.​fr/​pages/​recrutement-et-carrieres/​dans-les-tribunaux-administratifs-et-cours-administratives-d-appel/​recrutement-des-magistrats. See also https://​www.​transformation.​gouv.​fr/​reforme-de-l-encadrement-superieur-de-l-etat/​formation.

See https://​www.​transformation.​gouv.​fr/​reforme-de-l-encadrement-superieur-de-l-etat/​formation. See also Rambaud (2022), pp. 660–664; Azouaou (2022), pp. 686–693.

Décret n° 2021-1216 du 22 septembre 2021 fixant la liste des corps et cadres d'emplois dont les membres peuvent être nommés auditeurs au Conseil d’Etat et à la Cour des comptes.

See otherwise Section 2/CJA Art. L. 133-8.

See CJA Art. L. 133-5, Art. L. 121-2, Art. L. 133-12-3, Art. L.133-12-4 and Art. L. 133-9.

CJA Art. L. 233-3, Art. L. 233-4, Art. L. 233-4 and Art. L. 233-2.

CJA Art. R. 135-1 and Art. L. 234-2-1.

Section VI—On treaties and international agreements and Section XV—On the European Union.

Sauvé (2016).

Steiner (2018), p. 270.