Constitutional Judiciary in France after the Second World War. The Importance of Constitutional Republican Tradition Cover Image

Sądownictwo konstytucyjne we Francji po II wojnie światowej. Znaczenie konstytucyjnej tradycji republikańskiej
Constitutional Judiciary in France after the Second World War. The Importance of Constitutional Republican Tradition

Author(s): Lech Jamróz
Subject(s): History of Law, Constitutional Law, Political history, Government/Political systems, Politics and law, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989)
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: France; republican tradition; Constitutional Committee; primacy of the act (statute); sovereignty of the parliament;

Summary/Abstract: In France, the institution of the constitutional court appeared relatively late. In the period of the Third Republic, the main obstacle to a serious discussion on the introduction of a constitutional court to the political system was the prevailing concept of a “sovereign parliament” and the associated primacy of the act (statute). The doctrine of those times strengthened the view of the special role of the act (statute) in the legal system; also in the protection of individual rights. These are the main elements of the French republican tradition, which was formed during the Third Republic and was strengthened in the next republican period under the Constitution of 1946. The Constitutional Council, the first independent constitutional court, was introduced into the new system of France (1958) not so much from the conviction of this institution, but from the desire to limit the sovereign power of the parliament and the primacy of the law. The earlier Constitutional Committee (1946) could not fulfill this role, but its importance is underlined in French literature.

  • Issue Year: 17/2020
  • Issue No: 64
  • Page Range: 59-71
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Polish