27 November 2023
Constitutionalizing the right to abortion is not political opportunism
Recently, Baptiste Charvin wrote on this blog that the right to abortion has become the subject of political instrumentalization in France. In his view, it illustrates a general phenomenon of 'constitutional desacralization' and underlines the division the French people are experiencing, 'despite being governed by a Constitution that enshrines a set of values that should be shared by all.' I argue that the French parliamentary debate on the right to abortion is anything but a phenomenon of recent political opportunism. Instead, it reflects – for once – a majority opinion, not the division of French society. Continue reading >>
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11 October 2023
The French Republic’s (In)Divisibility
On Thursday 28 September 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron called, in front of the Corsican Assembly, for Corsica to be given ‘autonomy within the Republic’. The French government and Corsican elected representatives have six months to produce a text which, if approved by the Corsican Assembly, will serve as the basis for an amendment to the French Constitution. Nonetheless, the political reactivation of an old constitutional principle might get in the way. In particular, conservative parliamentarians can be expected to invoke the principle of the indivisibility of the Republic in the constitutional amendment process. Despite the principle’s long-standing presence in republican constitutional history, we argue that it cannot serve as a constitutional argument against Corsican autonomy, both because the Constitution allows amendments despite contradictory principles and because it has always tolerated a certain degree of divisibility. Continue reading >>
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