The current French Constitution was adopted on October 4th, 1958 and
established the Fifth Republic. It has been in longer use now than any
other constitution in France except the one which established the Third
Republic (1875-1940).
Here is the text in French. Each chapter is accompanied by a short
summary in English. Copyrighted translations in Spanish, German and
English are available at
http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/textes/c1958web.htm.
This node contains the Preamble, the 1st article and links to the other
chapters or "titles". First of all, here are a few interesting points:
- The word "Dieu" (God) does not appear in the document. The only
mention of religion is made in the first article, which states that "all
citizens are equal with no distinction of origin, race or religion". (I
never heard a French politician pronounce the name of God in public.)
- Art. 2 states that France has an official language.
- Equality between men and women is strongly supported by the
Constitution. Because of a recent modification in Art.1, a law about parity
in electoral lists has been adopted.
- The President is elected directly by the citizens since 1962. As
Art. 6 says, the Presidential mandate has been reduced from 7 to 5 years a
few months ago.
- The Constitution has been revised 15 times since 1958, nine times in
the last ten years, four times in the last three years. Therefore it is
useful to mention that this version was last updated in April 2001.
Préambule
Preamble
The Preamble refers to
the Human Rights Declaration (the French one as well as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights), and curiously says that overseas territories
can, if they wish, join the Republic.
Le peuple français proclame solennellement son attachement aux Droits de
l'homme et aux principes de la souveraineté nationale tels qu'ils ont été
définis par la Déclaration de 1789, confirmée et complétée par le préambule
de la Constitution de 1946.
En vertu de ces principes et de celui de la libre détermination des
peuples, la République offre aux territoires d'Outre-Mer qui manifestent la
volonté d'y adhérer des institutions nouvelles fondées sur l'idéal commun
de liberté, d'égalité et de fraternité et conçues en vue de leur évolution
démocratique.
Article 1
1st Article says that "France is an indivisible,
laic, democratic and social Republic. It ensures the equality of
all the citizen in front of the law with no distinction of origin, race
or religion. It respects all the beliefs.
La France est une République indivisible, laïque, démocratique et
sociale. Elle assure l'égalité devant la loi de tous les citoyens sans
distinction d'origine, de race ou de religion. Elle respecte toutes les
croyances.
Title 1: Of
Sovereignty
Title 2: The
President of the Republic
Title 3: The
Government
Title 4: The
Parliament
Title 5: The Relationship between the Government and the
Parliament
Title 6: Treaties and international agreements
Title 7: The
Constitutional Council
Title 8: The justice
authority
Title 9: The
High Court of Justice
Title 10: Penal responsibility of the members of the
government
Title 11:
The Economic and Social Council
Title 12:
The Territorial Collectivities
Title 13: Temporary Measures Related To
New Caledonia
Title 14: Of
Association Agreements
Title 15: The European Communities and the European
Union
Title 16: The
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