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Theconstitutions of France are the various foundational texts that have organized the institutions of France at different periods of its history. These may be known under various names – constitution, charter, constitutional laws or acts – and take precedence over other legislative texts.[a]
The constitutional text currently in force in France is theconstitution of 1958, which founded theFifth Republic. It was approved by the people in a referendum on 28 September 1958, and officially promulgated on 4 October that year.
The constitutional history of France is made up of many changes that have led to experimentation with a large number of political regime types since theFrench Revolution, ranging from anassembly regime [fr] (such as theNational Convention) to reactionary dictatorship (such as theVichy regime).
TheKingdom of France, under theAncien Régime, was anabsolute monarchy and lacked a formal constitution; the regime essentially relied oncustom. That said, certain rules known as thefundamental laws of the Kingdom were outside the power of the monarch to change without further consent. These rules were mainly about the inheritance of the Crown, which required strictprimogeniture unless the heir was not Catholic, and from theTreaty of Troyes onward was strictlyagnatic (male-only) as well. TheParlement of Paris, a primarily judicial body with quasi-legislative functions that was tasked with applying the fundamental laws, rarely brooked modification of the laws. For instance,Louis XIV tried by his will and testament to change the inheritance order, but theParlement annulled it.[1][2] On the other hand, the law was occasionally changed, as when the provisions of thePeace of Utrecht renouncing the claim of Louis XIV's grandsonPhilippe to inherit the throne of France were approved to allow him to inherit the throne of Spain.
TheRevolutionary Era saw a number of constitutions:[3]
Following the restoration of the monarchy:[3]
Mid-19th century:[3]
20th century:[3]
InFrance, the preamble to theconstitution of the Fifth Republic of 1958 was considered ancillary and therefore non-binding until a major jurisprudential reversal by theConstitutional Council in a decision of 16 July 1971.[4] This decision, which began with the words "Having regard to the constitution and its preamble," affected a considerable change of French constitutional law, as the preamble and the texts it referred to, theDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789 and the preamble to theconstitution of the Fourth Republic, took their place alongside the constitution proper as texts understood as being invested with constitutional value. TheCharter of the Environment of 2004 [fr] was later appended to the preamble, and the Constitutional Council identified three informal categories consisting of thefundamental principles recognized by the laws of the Republic, theprinciples of constitutional value [fr],[5] and theobjectives of constitutional value [fr].
Un principe à valeur constitutionnelle est un principe dégagé par le Conseil constitutionnel et dont le respect s'impose au législateur comme aux autres organes de l'État. Il est une norme juridique à part entière.[A principle of constitutional force is a principle identified by the Constitutional Council, the respect of which is binding on the legislator as well as on the other organs of the State. It is a legal norm in its own right.]
