cover image

Constitutional Council (France)

National constitutional ruling body of the French Republic / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:

Can you list the top facts and stats about Constitutional Council (France)?

Summarize this article for a 10 years old

SHOW ALL QUESTIONS

The Constitutional Council (French: Conseil constitutionnel; French pronunciation: [kɔ̃sɛj kɔ̃stitysjɔˈnɛl]) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules are upheld. It is housed in the Palais-Royal, Paris. Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed statutes conform with the Constitution, after they have been voted by Parliament and before they are signed into law by the President of the Republic (a priori review), or passed by the government as a decree, which has law status in many domains, a right granted to the government under delegation of Parliament.

Quick facts: Constitutional Council, Composition method, A...
Constitutional Council
Conseil constitutionnel
Conseil_Constitutionnel%2C_logo_2016.svg
osm-intl,13,a,a,250x200.png
Composition methodConstitutional authority
Authorized byConstitution of France
Judge term length9 years (non-renewable)
Number of positions9 + 2 former presidents of the Republic (de facto)
Websitewww.conseil-constitutionnel.fr
President of the Constitutional Council
CurrentlyLaurent Fabius
Since8 March 2016
Close

Since 1 March 2010, individual citizens who are party to a trial or a lawsuit have been able to ask for the Council to review whether the law applied in the case is constitutional (a posteriori review). In 1971, the Council ruled that conformity with the Constitution also entails conformity with two other texts referred to in the preamble of the Constitution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the preamble of the constitution of the Fourth Republic, both of which list constitutional rights.[1][2]

Members are referred to as les sages ("the wise") in the media and the general public, as well as in the Council's own documents.[3][4][5] Legal theorist Arthur Dyevre notes that this "tends to make those who dare criticise them look unwise."[6] Since 2016, Laurent Fabius has served as President of the Constitutional Council (Président du Conseil constitutionnel) following his appointment by President François Hollande.