Law of France

French system of Jurisdiction

French legal system

In academic terms, French law can be divided into two main categories: private law
("droit priv") and public law ("droit public"). This differs from the traditional common
law conception in which the main distinction is between Criminal law and Civil Law.
Private law governs relationships between individuals.[1] It includes, in particular:[2]

Civil law (droit civil). This branch refers to the field of private law in common
law systems. This branch encompasses the fields of inheritance law, civil law,
family law, property law, and contract law.

Commercial law ("droit commercial")

Employment law ("droit du travail")

Public law defines the structure and the workings of the government as well as
relationships between the state and individuals.[1] It includes, in particular:

criminal law ("droit pnal")

administrative law ("droit administratif")

constitutional law ("droit constitutionnel")

Together, these two distinctions form the backbone of legal studies in France, such that
it has become a classical distinction[2]

Overview[edit]
The legal system especially underwent changes after the French revolution. Also, during
the colonial era some Muslim-dominated societies began to blend the sharia legal
system with the French legal system as represented in local law.[3][unreliable source?]
The announcement in November 2005 by the European Commission that powers
recognised in a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling underlay its intention to
create a dozen or so European Union (EU) criminal offences suggests that one should
also now consider EU law ("droit communautaire", sometimes referred to, less
accurately, as "droit europen") as a new and distinct area of law in France (akin to the
federal laws that apply across States of the US, on top of their own State law), and not
simply a group of rules which influence the content of France's civil, criminal,
administrative and constitutional law.

Civil law[edit]
As mentioned, the term civil law in France refers to private law, and should be
distinguished from the group of legal systems descended from Roman Law known as
civil law, as opposed to common law. The main body of statutes and laws governing
civil law and procedure are set out in the Civil Code of France.[4] Other private law
statutes are also located in other codes such as commercial code in the Code of
Commerce, or copyright law in the Intellectual Property Code.

Criminal law[edit]
See also: Criminal responsiblilty in French law
French criminal law is governed first and foremost by the Code pnal, or penal code,
which for example formally prohibits violent offences, e.g., homicide, assault, etc., and
many pecuniary offences such as theft or money laundering, and provides general
punishment guidelines. However, a number of criminal offenses, e.g., slander and libel,
have not been codified but are instead addressed by legislation.[5]

Constitutional law[edit]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2008)
Constitutional law is a branch of public law dealing with:

Human rights

Constitution and functioning of the public authorities and the government and,
in particular the relationship between the three constitutional powers, executive,
legislative and judiciary.

Relationship between citizens and public authorities, in particular the

participation of French citizens to the exercise of public powers.

It fixes the hierarchy of laws and rules within the French legal system and the
relationship between these different norms. Constitutional law became independent
from political science and administrative law with the Constitution of 1958 which
included the institution of a constitutional court, the "Conseil Constitutionnel".

Administrative law[edit]
In France, most claims against local or national governments are handled by the
administrative courts, for which the Conseil d'tat (Council of State) is a court of last
resort. The main administrative courts are the tribunaux administratifs and cours
administratives d'appel for appeals. The French body of administrative law is called
droit administratif.

European Union Law[edit]

Traditionally, the law of the European Union (EU) has been viewed as a body of rules
which are transposed either automatically (in the case of a regulation) or by national
legislation (in the case of a directive) into French domestic law, whether in civil,
criminal, administrative or constitutional law.
However, in November 2005 the Commission SADOS[clarification needed] announced a proposed
directive based on a somewhat controversial European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision
holding that the EU had the right to require its member states to introduce criminal laws
because, in the case at hand, this was necessary in order to implement and uphold EU
legislation on combatting pollution. The commission intended to create a dozen or so
EU criminal offences, similar to the relationship of federal to state law in the United
States of America. Indeed, led by its then-Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs
Franco Frattini - it insisted that the principle created in this decision applied to all
policies, not just pollution policy.
In May 2006, the Commission formally submitted to the EU Parliament and EU
Council (which have co-decision powers) the first draft directive aiming to put this into
effect. The draft concerns counterfeiting (for example, of car parts, drugs, or children's
toys) and requires each Member State to set the following penalties for what it terms
"organised counterfeiters": a period of imprisonment of up to four years and a fine of up
to 300,000. The Parliament began its consideration of the draft directive in March
2007.