French Parliament Parlement français | |
|---|---|
| 17th legislature of the French Fifth Republic | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats |
|
.svg) | |
Senate political groups | |
 | |
National Assembly political groups | Government (161) Supported by (118) Opposition (296) Vacant (2)
|
| Elections | |
| Indirect election | |
| Two-round system | |
LastSenate election | 24 September 2023 |
LastNational Assembly election | 30 June and 7 July 2024 |
NextSenate election | By September 2026 |
NextNational Assembly election | By June 2029 |
| Meeting place | |
.jpg) | |
| Aile du Midi,Château de Versailles (joint session) | |
 | |
| Palais du Luxembourg, meeting place of theFrench Senate | |
 | |
| Palais Bourbon, meeting place of theFrench National Assembly | |
| Website | |
| parlement.fr | |
| This article is part ofa series on |
Related topics |
 France portal |
TheFrench Parliament (French:Parlement français,[paʁləmɑ̃fʁɑ̃sɛ]) is thebicameralparliament of theFrench Fifth Republic, consisting of theSenate (Sénat) andNational Assembly (Assemblée nationale). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris: the Senate meets in thePalais du Luxembourg, the National Assembly convenes at thePalais Bourbon, both on theRive Gauche.
Each house has its own regulations and rules of procedure. However, occasionally they may meet as a single house known as theCongress of the French Parliament (Congrès du Parlement français), convened at thePalace of Versailles, to revise and amend theConstitution of France.
The French Parliament, as a legislative body, should not be confused with the variousparlements of theAncien Régime in France, which were regional appeals courts with certain administrative functions varying from province to province and as to whether the local law was written and Roman, or customary common law.
The word "Parliament", in the modern meaning of the term, appeared in France in the 19th century, at the time of the constitutional monarchy of 1830–1848. It is never mentioned in any constitutional text until theConstitution of the 4th Republic in 1946. Before that time, reference was made to "les Chambres" or to each assembly, whatever its name, but unlike in Great Britain, the legislature as a whole had no name as such.
Across thevaried constitutional structures used in France since 1791, all have had a legislative body of varying names, which has for most of its history beenbicameral (though at timesunicameralism and more unorthodox forms withthree or more chambers have existed).
The current Parliament is composed of two chambers: the Senate (French:le Sénat) and the National Assembly, which have 349 and 577 members respectively.
Deputies, who sit in the National Assembly, are elected byfirst past the post voting in two rounds for a term of five years, notwithstanding a dissolution of the Assembly. Each constituency has around 100,000 residents, though some variance of size exists between rural and urban constituencies. For example, the Val-d'Oise constituency has 188,000 electors, whileSaint-Pierre-et-Miquelon near Canada has just 6,000.[1]
Senators are elected by indirect universal suffrage by thegrands électeurs, who consist of deputies, regional councillors, departmental councillors and representatives of municipal councillors. The latter constitute 95% of the electoral body.
Normally, the parliament meets for a single nine-month session each year but under special circumstances thePresident of France can call an additional session. Parliamentary power was limited after the establishment of theFifth Republic; however, the National Assembly can still cause a government to fall if anabsolute majority of the legislators votes for amotion of no confidence. As a result, the government usually consists of members from the political party that dominates the Assembly and must be supported by a majority there to prevent a vote of no-confidence.
ThePrime Minister and other government Ministers are appointed by the President, who is under no constitutional or other mandatory obligation to make governmental appointments from the ranks of the majority party in parliament. This is a safeguard that was introduced by the founder of the Fifth Republic,Charles de Gaulle, to attempt to prevent the disarray andhorse-trading seen in the parliamentary regimes of the Third and Fourth Republics; however, in practice the prime minister and other ministers usually do belong to the majority party. A notable exception to this custom occurred duringNicolas Sarkozy's premiership when he appointed socialist ministers andSecretary of State-level junior ministers to his government. The rare periods during which the president is not from the same political party as the prime minister are usually known ascohabitation. TheCabinet of Ministers is led by the President rather than the Prime Minister.
The government (or, when it sits in session every Wednesday, the cabinet) exerts considerable influence on the agenda of Parliament. The government can link its term to a legislative text which it proposes, and unless a motion of censure is introduced within 24 hours of the proposal and passed within 48 hours of introduction – thus full procedures last at most 72 hours – the text is considered adopted without a vote. However, this procedure was limited by a 2008 constitutional amendment. Legislative initiative rests with the National Assembly.
Legislators enjoyparliamentary immunity.[2] Both assemblies have committees that write reports on a variety of topics. If necessary, they can establish parliamentary commissions of inquiry with broad investigative power. However, this is almost never exercised because the majority can reject a proposition by the opposition to create an investigatory commission. Also, such a commission may only be created if it does not interfere with a judicial investigation, meaning that in order to cancel its creation, one just needs to press charges on the topic concerned by the investigatory commission. Since 2008, the opposition may impose the creation of an investigative commission once a year, even against the wishes of the majority. However, they still cannot lead investigations if there is a judicial case in process already (or that starts after the commission is formed).
