In France, the Conseil d'État (English: Council of State and sometimes Counsel of State) is an organ of the French national government. Its functions include assisting the executive with legal advice and being the supreme court for administrative justice. Its members are (for the most part) high level jurists. The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Administrative law is the body of law that arises from the activities of administrative agencies of government. ... A jurist is a professional who studies, develops, applies or otherwise deals with the law. ...

Organisation

The front of the Palais Royal

The Conseil d'État is headed by a vice-president (it is theoretically presided by the prime minister assisted by the justice minister, but all functions are actually assumed by the vice-president). Its members are generally former graduates of the École nationale d'administration. The vice-president of the Conseil is considered, for ceremonial purposes, the foremost civil servant in France. Download high resolution version (2588x1324, 640 KB)Photo of the Palais Royal (Conseil dEtat) in Paris Copyright (c) 2003 David Monniaux File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (2588x1324, 640 KB)Photo of the Palais Royal (Conseil dEtat) in Paris Copyright (c) 2003 David Monniaux File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A vice president is an officer in government or business who is next in rank below a president. ... The Prime Minister of France (Premier ministre de la France) is the functional head of the Cabinet of France. ... Categories: French government | Stub ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ...

The current vice-president is Renaud Denoix de Saint Marc. Renaud Denoix de Saint Marc (born September 24, 1938) is a French lawyer. ...

The Conseil is seated in the Palais Royal in Paris. Gardens of the Palais-Royal: The illustration, from an 1863 guide to Paris, enlarges the apparent scale. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

The Conseil is divided into 6 sections:

The litigation section (section du contentieux)

This section is the "supreme court" for the system of administrative justice. It hears both recourses against decrees and other executive decisions from the President of the Republic and the cabinet ministers, as well as appelate cases from lower administrative courts. Its decisions are final. Decree is an order that has the force of law. ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ...

While the Conseil is not a court, strictly speaking, it functions much as one with respect to litigation. Plaintiffs are represented by lawyers drawn from the same exclusive bar as the Court of Cassation. A lawyer or attorney at law is a person licensed by the state to advise clients in legal matters and represent them in courts of law (and in other forms of dispute resolution). ... A bar association is a body of lawyers who, in some jurisdictions, are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession. ... The Cour de cassation is the main court of last resort in France. ...

The Conseil d'État examines the conformance of regulations and administrative decisions with respect to higher decisions, the general principles of Law, statute law, the Constitution and the general constitutional principles. The general principles of Law are principles that are not found in any statute, yet derive from the spirit of the body of law; they are discovered by the Conseil and thus made into case law. A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... An organizations constitution defines its form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules. ... Case law - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

The Conseil has full latitude to judge on the legality of any decision from the executive branch, except for the very narrow category of "acts of government" where it judges itself incompetent. The Conseil itself has judged that such acts are restricted to: Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the executive is the branch of a government charged with implementing, or executing, the law. ...

• relationships between the executive branch and the legislative branch (whether to submit a law project to parliament...)
• acts that cannot be separated from the foreign policy of France.

See the analysis on the Conseil's site (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la03.shtml) for more information (in French). Chamber of the Estates-General, the Dutch legislature. ... For political interaction among states, see foreign policy. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ...

The procedure is inquisitorial: the litigant writes a letter (and generally pays a nominal fee) to the Conseil, stating precisely what happened and why he feels that the government acted illegally; the Conseil then starts an inquiry, asking the other party (generally, a government or government agency) for precisions, and so on until the Conseil has a clear picture of the case. The litigant does not have the burden of proof: the Conseil may well decide that the litigant was right and the government was wrong if the information supplied by the litigant was sufficient to enable it to find the missing proofs. Of course, both parties may supply supplemental information until the case is ready for final judgment. This article is about the inquisitorial system for organizing court proceedings. ... Categories: Move to Wiktionary | Law stubs | Legal terms ... This article is about law in society. ... Burden of proof is the obligation to prove allegations which are presented in a legal action. ...

In some cases, it is unclear whether a case should be heard before administrative courts or judiciary courts. In this case, the tribunal des conflits, made of equal number of members of the Conseil d'État and of judges from the Cour de Cassation and presided by the Minister of Justice is summoned The Cour de cassation is the main court of last resort in France. ...

The section of the report and studies (section du rapport et des études)

It writes the annual report, conducts studies and helps in ensuring the proper execution of litigation decisions.

The other administrative sections

The finance section (section des finances), interior section (section de l'intérieur), social section (section sociale), public works section (section des travaux publics) reviews all ordinances, all statute projects drafted by the Council of Ministers as well as all decrees for which that review is compulsory (décrets en Conseil d'État). Such reviews are nonbinding, but they are cumpulsory.

The Conseil d'État may also review legal problems addressed to it by the Ministers. It is also charged with the inspection of administrative courts.

History

The Conseil d'État was created under the Consulate in 1799 as a judicial authority responsible for lawsuits against the State, and also charged with helping in the drafting of the most important legislation. The First Consul (later Emperor) presided over its sessions, and the Council performed many of the functions of a Cabinet. After the Bourbon Restoration, the Council was retained as an administrative court, but without its former prominence. The term Consulate can refer to: the office or the period in office of a consul a diplomatic consulate the French Consulate which governed between 1799 and 1804 a brand of menthol cigarettes Consulate This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Originally, three equal Consuls made up the government established by Napoleon Bonaparte after the coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799), which established the Consulate in France (1799-1804). ... Emperor is also a Norwegian black metal band; see Emperor (band). ... Alternate meanings in cabinet (disambiguation) A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... Following the ouster of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814, the Allies restored the Bourbon Dynasty to the French throne. ...

Its role was better defined by the law of 1872. 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Main Decisions of the Conseil d'État

As it renders final judicial review over almost all acts of the executive branch, the decisions of the Conseil d'État may be of considerable importance, often not for the actual case judged, but for the implications on the interpretation of law. While France is a civil law country and there is no formal rule of stare decisis, lower courts follow the constante jurisprudence of the Conseil d'État. The major decisions of the Conseil d'État are collected into books and commented by academics; the official site of the Conseil (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/) carries a list of comments on important decisions (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la00.shtml). The interpretation of points of law forms the Conseil's doctrine. Civil law has at least three meanings. ... Stare decisis is a Latin term (to stand by things decided) used in common law to express the notion that prior court decisions must be recognized as precedents, according to case law. ... Law (a loanword from Danish- Norwegian lov), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow... Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ...

The decisions are named after the individual(s) or body who has appealed to the Council. The name of female individuals may be preceded by Dame and the name of widows called by their husband's name Veuve.

Among the important decisions, let us cite:

• February 19, 1875 - Prince Napoléon (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la03.shtml)
  The fact that a decision has been taken with political considerations does not make it an "act of government" that cannot be judged upon by the Conseil (reversal of previous doctrine).

• May 28, 1954 - Barel (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la35.shtml). Freedom of opinion of civil servants.
  The administration cannot exclude people from applying for civil service positions solely on the basis of their political opinions. (Some Communists were refused admittance at the École nationale d'administration).

• October 19, 1962 - Canal, Robin & Godot (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la39.shtml)
  The executive branch may take decisions by ordinance only in the narrowly defined field authorized by the habilitation law. The executive cannot decide the creation of courts whose procedures and absence of recourse are outside of the general principles of criminal law.
  This decision was the source of strong tensions between the Conseil and president Charles de Gaulle.

• February 3, 1989 - Alitalia corporation (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la43.shtml)
  The executive branch has the duty to cancel illegal regulations, even if they were initially legal. Regulations must conform to European Union directives whose transposition period has expired.

• October 27, 1995 - Commune of Morsang-sur-Orge (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la47.shtml), the "dwarf throwing case".
  The respect of human dignity may be included in "public order". (A mayor had prohibited a dwarf throwing attraction on grounds of public order, since this attraction did not respect human dignity.)
  This decision nevertheless stops short of including morality in public order.

• March 3, 2004 - The asbestos case (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/actual/index_ac_lc0405.shtml).
  The State may be held responsible for not taking appropriate measures, according to the current scientific knowledge, for protecting the workers' health (against asbestos), even if the workers work for private employers.

See also: Politics of France, Supreme court February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ... May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The French Civil Service (fonction publique) is the set of civil servants (fonctionnaires) working for the French government. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... October 19 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Executive can mean: Executive (government), a branch of government; A functionary in a commercial or non-commercial organisation. ... Ordinance can mean: That which is ordained or decreed by fate or a deity such as Dharma of Buddism A law made by a non-sovereign body such as a city council or a colony. ... This article is about courts of law. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that regulates governmental sanctions (such as imprisonment and/or fines) as retaliation for crimes against the social order. ... The President of France, known officially as the President of the Republic (Président de la République in French), is Frances elected Head of State. ... Portrait of General Charles de Gaulle. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Executive can mean: Executive (government), a branch of government; A functionary in a commercial or non-commercial organisation. ... The European Union or EU is an intergovernmental organisation of European countries, which currently has 25 member states. ... In music, transposition is moving a note or collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval. ... October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lenny the Giant, Roy Cuddles Merrin and Danny Blue from The Oddballs Dwarf tossing, which originated in Australia or in the United States in the 1980s, is an attraction (some consider it a sport) in bars, where dwarfs wearing special padded clothing are thrown onto mattresses by competitors. ... Morality is a complex of principles based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which an individual determines whether his or her actions are right or wrong. ... March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article discusses political groups and tendencies in France; for information on the political and administrative structures of France, see Government of France. ... The supreme court in some countries, provinces, and states, is the highest court in that jurisdiction and functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be appealed. ...

See also

• Cour des Comptes

External links

• Official website (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/)
• Important decisions of the Conseil d'État (http://www.conseil-etat.fr/ce/jurisp/index_ju_la00.shtml)
• English translations of some decisions (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/global_law/french-cases/index.shtml?contents#etat)