French Parliament: Legislative Process and Oversight
Functions of the French Parliament
The most important functions of the French Parliament are the legislative and control functions.
The Legislative Function
The legislative function is shared with the Government. The Constitution reserves two classes of materials:
1. Matters Requiring Standards: Parliament sets the rules concerning:
- a) Civil rights, guarantees of civil liberties, the obligations of national defense, and the constitutional guarantees of civil servants.
- b) Nationality, the status and capacity of individuals, matrimony, inheritance, and gifts.
- c) Criminal law, criminal procedure, the creation of new orders of jurisdiction, and the status of judges.
- d) Tax issues and the issuance of currency.
- e) The electoral system for local parliamentary assemblies.
- f) The creation of categories of public establishments.
- g) The nationalization of enterprises and their privatization.
2. Matters Requiring Determination of General Principles:
- 1) The general organization of national defense, self-administration of local communities, their skills, and resources.
- 2) Education.
- 3) The system of property ownership, real rights, and civil and commercial obligations.
- 4) The right to work, labor, and social security.
To ensure the separation of powers, a set of rules protects the Government from interference by Parliament:
1st) If the Government believes that a bill or an amendment invades the regulatory field, it may object to its admissibility. If there is no agreement, the Constitutional Council decides within 8 days.
2nd) Prior to the enactment of a law, the Government may request that the Constitutional Council declare it unconstitutional if it legislates on matters covered by a regulation or make a statement about the nature (law or regulation) of the content of a law.
Parliament, to defend the legislative field, may bring an action for abuse of power before the Council of State or administrative tribunals, as appropriate. If there is no contradiction between the various courts, the opinion of the Constitutional Council prevails.
For the procedure of making laws, the Constitution of 1958, besides the two standard procedures in the Third and Fourth Republics to develop common law and constitutional law, introduces different methods for acts adopted by referendum, organic laws, and finance laws.
Phases of Development of Ordinary Law
The phases of development of ordinary law are three:
1. Initiative:
- § Parliamentarians (bills): Can be submitted by any member of parliament and serve to meet the guidelines, especially those of the opposition parties.
- § Prime Minister (bills): Two requisites: a non-binding report of the State Council and its adoption by the Council of Ministers.
2. Discussion: Once the text of a draft or proposed law is accepted, it is printed and discussed by both Houses following very similar rules: it is sent to one of the standing committees or one created for this purpose and then discussed in full, either in general or by items. The opposition can use various means to delay the adoption of the text or reject it: the objection of inadmissibility, the previous questions, and forwarding the motion.
The Government may propose an amendment and oppose those that have not been discussed in committee. It also has two means to force the decisions of the assemblies:
- a. The blocked vote: when requested by the competent assembly, the government should decide on a single vote on all or part of the text in question, taking into account in this case only amendments proposed or accepted by the Government.
- b. To engage its responsibility with regard to a text: Members can only approve or overturn the Government with a motion of censure.
If there is no agreement between the Chambers, the Government may decide to set up a joint committee composed of 7 representatives and 7 senators. If there is still no agreement, the Government may give the last word to the National Assembly.
3. Enactment: Once approved, the law is promulgated by the President of the Republic within 15 days unless a report is requested from the Constitutional Council, which has one month (or eight days if there is urgency) to decide. The President can also ask Parliament to deliberate again.
Parliamentary Control of Government
The functions relating to parliamentary control of the government can be carried out by different means:
Means of Information:
- a) Written questions.
- b) Oral questions with or without debate.
- c) Questions to the Government.