02 Februar 2021
The French Habeas Corpus and Covid-19
In January 2021, the French Constitutional Council published an important decision on the protection of the right to liberty during the state of sanitary emergency. The Constitutional Council decided that extending the duration of pre-trial detention without a decision made by a judge was contrary to article 66 of the Constitution. The decision implies that while authorities can resort to exceptional powers during a pandemic, they must still respect basic human rights. Continue reading >>
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01 April 2020
Governing Through Fear in France
The present pandemic affects our ways of life and acts as a magnifying glass: It helps us to see the main features of our political and legal systems better. In France, the Act of Parliament from March, 23 reveals a well-known feature of the French fifth Republic: Parliament is not considered as a major political institution. Furthermore, it reveals yet again that the state of emergency has become common since 2015. Continue reading >>
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17 August 2018
The 2018 French Asylum and Immigration Act
As many others in the European Union, the French government attempts to tackle the so-called “migrants crisis”. A new bill aims at reducing the length of asylum proceedings and fighting against irregular migration. Despite disagreements between the two chambers, the National Assembly has adopted the last version of the bill on August 1st. Left-wing Members of Parliament have brought an action before the Constitutional Council. The bill may not be enacted before the Council has given its decision, at the beginning of September. The text will no longer change, unless some provisions are deemed unconstitutional. Continue reading >>09 August 2017