Fifth Republic of France

Origin

The starting point for the establishment of the Fifth Republic was the Algerian crisis , which the republic could not cope with for four years. The events of May 13, 1958 , when the top of the French army, suppressing the Algerian national uprising , came out of obedience to the civil authorities and, moreover, began to openly dictate their conditions to them ( Coup d'état du 13 mai 1958 ) led to the emergence of a new political regime in France .

To this challenge of France and the Republic, when the army encroached on the sacred French principle of unquestioning submission of the army to the state, the legitimate authorities could not give a decisive answer, and the Fourth Republic suffered a last blow, which forced a radical restructuring of the organization and functioning of state authorities in whole. Founded by the 1946 constitution , the Fourth Republic practically preserved its integrity of the system of “parliamentary absolutism” discredited over the years of the Third Republic : the powerless head of state, the omnipotent parliament, and the government entirely dependent on his will.

At the same time, the Fourth Republic became the “worthy successor” of its predecessor: in the 12 years allotted to it, 22 members of the Council of Ministers, who have been in power for an average of 6 months, and 12 prime ministers have been replaced — the state power worked in a “crisis to crisis” mode .

In the spring of 1958 , on the verge of a civil war because of the military operations of the French army in Algeria (since 1954), when the military leadership in Algeria - fearing that the central government would abandon " French Algeria " and transfer power to the rebels - had developed and was preparing to carry out a military coup in Paris , General de Gaulle , the head of the French Resistance during the Second World War and the former head of the Provisional Government , turned out to be a compromise figure.

Having received, in full accordance with the 1946 constitution, power from the hands of the National Assembly , General de Gaulle set three conditions on which he would agree to take the reins of government:

• giving the government unlimited powers in resolving the Algerian crisis;
• governing the country for six months by decrees of the government and, accordingly, the dissolution of parliament for holidays for the same period;
• and, finally, the main thing: delegation of constituent power to the government so that it urgently drafts a new Constitution .

All these conditions have been met.

Development

The initiator of constitutional reform was Charles de Gaulle , who came to power in May 1958 in the wake of the Algerian crisis, who was elected the first president of the Fifth Republic on December 21, 1958 . On December 19, 1965, Charles de Gaulle was re-elected for a second term, but on April 28, 1969, resigned (after the May events of 1968 ). His close associate, Georges Pompidou , who died on April 2, 1974, was elected President of the Republic. After the death of Pompidou, the centrist Valerie Giscard d'Estaing won the election, having been in power for one full term (until 1981 ), when he lost to the socialist Francois Mitterrand . Mitterrand (re-elected in 1988 for a second term) has been in power for 14 years, longer than any other French president; in 1986-1988 and 1993-1995, the right-wing ministers acted under him (the policy of " cohabitation "). In 1995 (when Mitterrand no longer ran for president), the socialists were defeated, and the mayor of Paris, the prime minister in 1974-1977 and 1986-1988, the Gaullist Jacques Chirac, came to power. In 1997-2002, in turn, the left-wing Lionel Jospin was the prime minister under Chirac.

The 2002 election was a sensation: all candidates won less than 20% of the vote, and ultra-right-wing nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen came out in the second round with just under 17% of the vote. All political forces, including opponents of Chirac, united in a coalition against Le Pen, and as a result, in the second round, Chirac won a decisive victory, gaining more than 80% of the vote. The entire second term of Chirac (2002-2007), the governments were formed by the right, whose popularity declined after a series of socio-economic decisions.

The 2007 elections , which took place in the midst of great public struggle and high voter turnout, brought victory in the second round to the leader of the right-wing party Union for the Popular Movement (successors of the Gaullist parties), and to the Minister of the Interior in 2002-2007 , Nicolas Sarkozy .

On May 6, 2012, as a result of the second round of the presidential election, François Hollande was elected the 24th President of France.

On May 7, 2017, as a result of the second round of the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron was elected the 25th President of France.

Constitution

De Gaulle's Constitutional Ideas

The constitution of 1958 was based on the views of Charles de Gaulle on the state system of France: the assumption of “strong power” led by “an authoritative arbiter, ... whom the people gave a mandate and means to support the national interest, no matter what could happen”, while maintaining the principle of " separation and balance of powers", democracy, individual rights and freedoms. The state in France should be "a power structure capable of making serious decisions and taking decisive actions expressing exclusively national interests and serving only them." The author of "Military Memoirs", published after the Second World War , describes the ideal, in his opinion, project of a republican state for France:

“ From my point of view, it is necessary for the state to have a head, that is, a leader, in which the nation could see the person responsible for the foundation of the state and the guarantor of its fate. It is also necessary that the exercise of executive power, serving exclusively the interests of the entire community, does not come from a parliament, uniting representatives of different parties expressing the interests of narrow groups. These conditions require that the head of state not belong to any party , be appointed by the people, appoint ministers himself and have the right to consult with the country, either by referendum or by the establishment of assemblies, and, finally, that he has the authority in case of danger to France to ensure integrity and independence of the country. In addition to the circumstances in which the president is obliged to intervene, the government and parliament must cooperate, the parliament has the right to control the government and remove it, but the top official of the country is an arbitrator and has the opportunity to resort to the court of the people. "

In a speech in Bayeux , in 1946 , de Gaulle set forth a charter of gallism regarding state institutions: “Democratic principles and experience require that all branches of government - the executive , the legislative , and the judiciary - are clearly delineated and fully balanced and that possible political inconsistency was dominated by a national arbiter , capable of ensuring a spirit of continuity in the context of the existence of diverse governments of the party composition ... ”(the so-called“ Bayeux Constitution ”)

The Fourth Republic, despite de Gaulle's call to “secure the power, authority and dignity of the government”, was a model of “parliamentary omnipotence” when the government was completely subordinate to parliament . As a result, France was in the grip of a permanent “ministerial crisis”, which made the country incapable of decisively and consistently implementing the “ decolonization ” of the French Empire and forced modernization of the country. Therefore, as the general believed, "despite the fact that the Republic is saved, it still needs to be restored."

Preparation and adoption

According to the Constitutional Revision Act, a Constitutional Advisory Committee was created to assist the government, with the aim of replenishing parliamentary oversight of the drafting of the constitution, but the main work in drafting the new main law of France was entrusted to a team of young members of the Council of State led by Justice Minister Michel Debre

The “first hour” Gallist , an implacable opponent of the Fourth Republic state system, Debre, warmly endorsing the ideas expressed by de Gaulle in a speech in Bayeux , and at the same time a supporter of British parliamentary traditions , insisted on the introduction of the post of Prime Minister , heading the government, as an autonomous number and in relation to the president of the Republic, state body. Thus, the political responsibility of the government to parliament was retained.

Subsequently, this allowed for “coexistence” on the highest floor of state power, when the parliamentary majority and the president of the Republic did not belong to the same political movement. In order to avoid repeating the scenario of the birth of the Fourth Republic, when the writing of the constitution was left to the Constituent Assembly , as a result of which the parties represented in it turned the process of its development into a political game, the constitution of the Fifth Republic was secret.

The final version of constitutional reform was published on September 4 of that year. As prescribed by the Constitutional Law of June 3, 1958, a referendum on the draft new constitution was held on September 18, both in the metropolis and in the " overseas territories ." On the day of the referendum, more than 22 million French citizens out of 26 million with voting rights came to polling stations. “Yes” answered over 17 million French and French, that is, 79.3% of the voters; The fifth republic was established by the vast majority of the French people.

Constitutional Practice

The 1958 Constitution established the presidency as an arbiter embodying the state. Supreme responsibility, and thus supreme power, was concentrated in the hands of the President of the Republic. The referendum of 1962, which approved the proposal of the head of state to continue to elect the president of the country directly by the people, finally approved the president of the Republic in the rank of national leader, because he, in contrast to the deputies elected in the districts and appointed by the ministers, is now the sole elect of the whole nation.

The constitution created a regime of a mixed or semi-presidential republic. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it combines the elements of parliamentary and presidential regimes: from the first, it takes the parliamentary responsibility of the government, the active participation of the latter at all stages of the legislative and budgetary procedure, from the second - the president, elected by direct and universal suffrage, with the appropriate power. Thus, the head of state oversees issues of foreign policy , defense and the armed forces , and the government - economic, social, financial, etc. politics.

The power of the president is great if he is supported by the National Assembly . In the event that he relies on the parliamentary majority, controls the National Assembly, the Prime Minister is destined for the fate of the director of the cabinet of the President of the Republic. The real head of government becomes the president, who determines the line of the state, and the prime minister remains to obey his will. The president can "ask" the head of the cabinet to resign. So the creator of the institutions of the Fifth Republic, Michel Debre , left his post in 1962, who divorced de Gaulle on the settlement of the Algerian conflict.

However, the balance of power changes dramatically when the opposition wins the parliamentary elections. So it was in 1986-1988, 1993-1995, 1997-2002, when the president and the parliamentary majority belonged to different political forces. In this case, the president’s power is noticeably reduced, although his prerogatives in the “reserved” sphere, which includes diplomacy, defense and the army, are largely preserved. He is forced to appoint a person who arranges a parliamentary majority as prime minister, otherwise a vote of no confidence will be passed to the government. The government really “defines and implements the policy” based on the support of the National Assembly. This exceptional situation is called by the French “cohabitation”.

President

Defending the draft of the new constitution before the Council of State , Michel Debre compared the new role of the President of the Republic with the “castle vault” of the state building, intended to cement its pillars.

From the nominal figure, “constitutional cripple” ( R. Poincare ), the President of the Republic became the true head of state, guardian of the constitution, guarantor of the Republic, supreme arbiter who “ensures the normal functioning of public authorities”. In order for the President of the Republic to be able to fully exercise his functions of an arbitrator standing above the triad of state authorities, he needs broad powers, and the constitution gives him those. Continuing to chair the Council of Ministers, the President of the Republic may, at his discretion, appoint and remove the Prime Minister and, at the proposal of the latter, other members of the Government. Here, after a discussion in the only collegium of ministers that makes decisions in the name of the government, he signs decrees .

Although the president still does not have the right of legislative initiative belonging to the prime minister and members of parliament , he approves laws passed by parliament, leaving a right of suspensive veto . He can submit any bill before its final approval to the Constitutional Council , so that he checks it for compliance with the constitution.

In addition, the President of the Republic may, at the suggestion of the government or parliament, submit to a referendum any bill relating to “the organization of public authorities, reforms in the economic and social policies of the nation and public services that are relevant to this policy, or a bill authorizing the ratification of or an international treaty that, without contradicting the constitution, would affect the functioning of state institutions. ” That is, the head of state becomes from now on the link between the French nation and its power, because only he has the right to directly appeal to the people, the source of sovereignty under a democratic regime, so that he himself expresses his will. In addition, the President of the Republic may dissolve the National Assembly upon hearing the opinion of its President.

All these imperious powers of the French president are crowned by the prerogative granted to him by article 16 of the constitution . When France finds itself plunged into a severe national crisis, there is a danger of a military invasion, or republican institutions are threatened, and “the normal functioning of constitutional state authorities is stopped,” the President of the Republic after consulting with the Prime Minister, the presidents of the chambers of parliament, as well as the Constitutional Council, vests itself with the fullness of power in order to "provide the shortest possible time for constitutional state authorities with the means to carry out their tasks."

We are not talking about a “presidential dictatorship,” for the constitution obliges the president to convene parliament and forbids the dissolution of the National Assembly until the state of emergency is lifted. This presidential authority cannot be used against the Republic, because otherwise the response of the parliament, which is being transformed into the Supreme Court, will be his removal from office. On the contrary, his goal is to protect France, when the tried and tested ways out of the national crisis will fail. Thus, de Gaulle's comrade-in-law since London, lawyer René Capitant called article 16 “the constitutionalization of the appeal on June 18 [1940]”. De Gaulle himself in his Memoirs of Hope expresses himself in this regard: “What is the justification of article 16,” they asked the authority giving the head of state in the name of saving France in case of catastrophe? ”And he recalled, precisely because there was no such article in June 1940, President Lebrun , instead of moving with the state apparatus to Algeria , called on Marshal Petain and thereby opened the way to surrender, and that President Koti , on the contrary, acted in the spirit of Article 16 (even before its adoption), when in order to avoid civil war from parliament cessation of any opposition to the return of General de Gaulle to power.

Presidents of the Fifth Republic

• Charles de Gaulle (1959-1969)
• Georges Pompidou (1969-1974)
• Valerie Giscard d'Estaing (1974-1981)
• Francois Mitterrand (1981-1995)
• Jacques Chirac (1995-2007)
• Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012)
• Francois Hollande (2012—2017)
• Emmanuel Macron (since 2017)

Government and Parliament

In addition to the President of the Republic, the fundamental institutions of the Republic — the government and parliament — underwent a radical restructuring. The creators of the 1958 constitution sharply limited the rights of parliament, which was thought to lead to a frequent change of government, which is incompatible with the effectiveness, stability, and continuity of power - by developing "rationalized parliamentarism ."

First of all, the fullness of the executive branch was returned to the government, and with it the central role in relations between the executive and legislative bodies. The government henceforth "defines and implements the policy of the nation." It ceases to be yet another committee, produced by the Chamber of Deputies, entirely dependent on the slightest blow of the breeze in political life, for it is appointed, starting with the Prime Minister, each member of the government appointed by the President of the Republic cannot combine a ministerial portfolio with a parliamentary mandate. Therefore, the parliament’s mission is changing. Now the “political expression of universal suffrage” ( J. Chirac ) will not impose its will on the government, but, controlling the actions of the ministry, support it, legislate and discuss the vectors of development of the nation.

The main function of the parliament’s powers, the function that the nation delegates to its elected representatives, is the drafting of laws binding on each and every rule governing the most important spheres of the country's life. The executive branch enforces laws by issuing regulatory acts to ensure that they are enforced accurately. Therefore, the constitution singles out the “domain” of the law, within which the parliament can adopt acts and beyond the borders of which it cannot transgress. All issues outside the scope of the law are regulated by the regulatory authority, divided, according to the constitution, between the president of the Republic and the government.

With the new roles prescribed by the constitution to parliament and the government, the legislative process is being qualitatively transformed. The red thread that goes through all the provisions of the 1958 Constitution regarding the legislative procedure - those who are supremely responsible for the application of the law, are not only entitled, but also obliged to take an active part in all stages of its drafting. From now on, the government will act in the adoption of the law on the first roles, possessing extensive means in order to impose its point of view on parliament. Bills and legislative proposals approved by the government are considered at its request by the chamber in priority order and in the manner it is established. It can withdraw from discussion any bill until it is adopted by parliament. The government also has the right to demand at any moment from the chamber a single vote on all or part of the text discussed in it, retaining only those amendments with which it agrees.

The rights of parliamentarians are narrowed: the constitution prohibits the adoption of legislative proposals and amendments proposed by deputies and senators, "if the consequence of their adoption would be either a reduction in public funds, or the creation or increase of government spending." Narrowing down to become an obstacle to demagogy, so often capturing parliamentary assemblies, and forcing people's deputies to truly serve France. Although the constitution requires the mutual consent of the National Assembly and the Senate on the text of the future law, the government can accelerate the legislative mechanism in order to resolve the differences between the chambers by convening a parity mixed commission, which is charged with developing a compromise acceptable for both deputies and senators. However, only the government decides whether to bring the results of the commission to a court of the chambers of parliament, and no amendment to them can be adopted without his consent. If this leads to a dead end, the government has the right, after another reading in each chamber, to appeal to the National Assembly for a final decision. The only exceptions are organic laws concerning the Senate, which cannot be adopted without the consent of the upper house.

A draft or proposal of a law is adopted by the National Assembly without discussion and voting if the government resolves with it the question of confidence in its policies, and the censure resolution is not submitted within the next 24 hours or adopted by the National Assembly.

The constitution provides the government with an arsenal of means to intervene in the legislative process, implying that it resorts to it when legislators are in a state of collapse , either in case of discord between the chambers, or when representatives of the people need to be reminded of the responsibility they bear before the country.

The culmination of the cleansing of French parliamentarism from the impurities of the assembly regime was the new order of government removal. The Cabinet of Ministers continues to be collectively and jointly accountable to the National Assembly, which ensures that the composition of the executive body corresponds to the balance of power in the lower house - otherwise it will also overthrow it by expressing a vote of no confidence, but the constitution protects the government on the way of passing a resolution of censure entailing it resignation:

• 1) a censure resolution can be put forward by at least 1/10 of the deputies, and is voted by the lower house only after 48 hours after its introduction;
• 2) when voting on expressing a vote of no confidence, only the votes cast for the censure resolution are counted: who does not vote or abstains is not clarified; a vote of no confidence can be passed by a majority of the deputies who make up the National Assembly;
• 3) a deputy cannot sign more than three resolutions of censure during the same ordinary session and more than one resolution during the same extraordinary session;
• 4) finally, the Prime Minister, after a discussion in the Council of Ministers, may raise before the National Assembly a question of confidence in the government in connection with voting on its program, a declaration on a common policy or a parliamentary act; and in this case, in order to deny the government confidence, the opposition must achieve the adoption by the National Assembly of a resolution of censure.

If a vote of no confidence is expressed to the government, the prime minister is obliged by article of the constitution to submit to the President of the Republic a statement on the resignation of his cabinet.

A united government leads France, the parliament supports it, not forgetting control over its policies, and maintains the rank of the highest tribune with which France speaks of its hopes, aspirations and aspirations.

Constitutional Council

One of the most successful innovations of the Fifth Republic was the creation of the Constitutional Council , designed to block the laws adopted by parliament if they do not comply with the constitution .

Initially, the Constitutional Council was established as a state body, which should restrain the parliament’s efforts to go beyond the limits of its powers and intrude into the competence of the executive branch, then later it established itself as the highest authority, independent in its judgments, and, which is especially important in the eyes of the French, as a guard human rights and freedoms. Thus, in 1971 , the Council reaffirmed the legal equality of the Declaration of Human Rights and the Citizen of 1789 and the preamble of the 1946 Constitution with the constitution that refers to them, with all the ensuing consequences.

The Constitutional Council consists of 9 members, appointed by the president of the Republic , the chairman of the National Assembly , the chairman of the Senate . The chairman is appointed by decree of the President of the Republic.

All former presidents of France become lifetime members of the Constitutional Council.

The nine-year mandate of the members of the Constitutional Council, renewed every third year by one third, the impossibility of re-appointment to this post, the incompatibility of being on the Council with the functions of a minister or member of Parliament or the recall of appointed officials, ensures the independence of the Constitutional Council and the impartiality of its decisions.

The Constitutional Council exercises only preliminary constitutional control over laws adopted by parliament, that is, until they are promulgated ^{[1] by the} President of the Republic.

The right to appeal to the Constitutional Council is vested in the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister , chairmen of the chambers of parliament and, since 1974, 60 deputies or 60 senators . In addition, the organic laws and regulations of the chambers of parliament are checked by the Council for constitutionality without fail.

The Constitutional Council also fulfills the duties of the central election commission: it monitors the correctness of the election of the President of the Republic and announces the results of the elections, passes a verdict on the correctness of the election of a parliamentarian, if it is disputed, finally monitors the correctness of the referendum provided for in Articles 11 and 89 of the Constitution and announces its results . If the Constitutional Council recognizes in its decision the unconstitutionality of certain provisions of the law, then they can neither be promulgated by the President of the Republic, nor applied. Decisions of the Constitutional Council are not subject to appeal and are binding on all public authorities, administrative and judicial authorities.

• Amendment Constitution for 2008