French Parliament: Difference between revisions

French Parliament

*Parlement français*
French Parliament ; Parlement français
15th Legislature of the French Fifth Republic
	Emblem of the French Republic
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate; National Assembly
Leadership
President of the Senate	Gérard Larcher, LR ; since 1 October 2014
President of the National Assembly	Richard Ferrand, REM ; since 12 September 2018
Structure
Seats	Senate: 348 ; National Assembly: 577
Senate political groups	LR (148); SER (65); UC (54); RDPI (23); RDSE (15); CRCE (15); LIRT (13); EST (12); RASNAG (3);
National Assembly political groups	Minority government (245) Ensemble (245) LREM (168); TDP (); MoDem (48); Horizons (27); PR (3); Agir (2); EC (1); CE (1); GNC (1); ; Opposition (332) NUPES (131) LFI (72); PS (26); PE (21) EELV (14); G.s (4); GÉ (2); ND (1); ; PCF (12); ; RN (89); UDC (64) LR (60) AD (1); ; UDI (3); LC (1); ; DLF (1); DVG (22); DVD (10); REG (10); DVC (4); DIV (1);
Elections
Senate voting system	Indirect election
National Assembly voting system	First-past-the-post voting (577 seats, two-round system)
Last Senate election	27 September 2020
Last National Assembly election	12 and 19 June 2022
Next Senate election	By September 2023
Next National Assembly election	By June 2027
Meeting place
	Aile du Midi, Château de Versailles (joint session)
Website
	parlement.fr

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Revision as of 17:11, 22 June 2022

The French Parliament (Template:Lang-fr) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate (Sénat) and the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris: the Senate meets in the Palais du Luxembourg and the National Assembly convenes at Palais Bourbon.

Each house has its own regulations and rules of procedure. However, occasionally they may meet as a single house known as the Congress of the French Parliament (Congrès du Parlement français), convened at the Palace of Versailles, to revise and amend the Constitution of France.

History and name

The French Parliament, as a legislative body, should not be confused with the various parlements of the Ancien Régime in France, which were courts of justice and tribunals with certain political functions varying from province to province and as to whether the local law was written and Roman, or customary common law.

The word "Parliament", in the modern meaning of the term, appeared in France in the 19th century, at the time of the constitutional monarchy of 1830–1848. It is never mentioned in any constitutional text until the Constitution of the 4th Republic in 1948. Before that time, reference was made to "les Chambres" or to each assembly, whatever its name, but never to a generic term as in Britain. Its form – unicameral, bicameral, or multicameral – and its functions have varied throughout the different political regimes and according to the various French constitutions:

Date	Constitution	Upper chamber	Lower chamber	Other chamber	Joint sitting	Single chamber
1791	French Constitution of 1791					Assemblée Nationale
1793	French Constitution of 1793					Corps législatif
1795–1799	Constitution of the Year III	Conseil des Anciens	Conseil des Cinq-Cents
1799–1802	Constitution of the Year VIII	Sénat conservateur	Corps législatif	Tribunat
1802–1804	Constitution of the Year X	Sénat conservateur	Corps législatif	Tribunat
1804–1814	Constitution of the Year XII	Sénat conservateur	Corps législatif	Tribunat^{[Note 1]}
1814–1815	Charter of 1814	Chamber of Peers	Chambre des députés des départements
1815	Additional Act to the Constitutions of the Empire	Chamber of Peers	Chamber of Representatives
1830–1848	Charter of 1830	Chamber of Peers	Chamber of Deputies
1848–1852	French Constitution of 1848					Assemblée Nationale
1852–1870	French Constitution of 1852	Sénat	Corps législatif
1871–1875						Assemblée Nationale
1875–1940	French Constitutional Laws of 1875	Sénat	Chamber of Deputies		Assemblée Nationale
1940–1944	French Constitutional Law of 1940
1944–1946	Provisional Government of the French Republic					Assemblée Nationale
1946–1958	French Constitution of 1946	Conseil de la République	Assemblée Nationale		Parliament
since 1958	French Constitution of 1958	Sénat	Assemblée Nationale		Parlement réuni en Congrès

Election of representatives

The current Parliament is composed of two chambers: the upper Senate (Template:Lang-fr) and the lower National Assembly, which have 349 and 577 members respectively.

Deputies, who sit in the National Assembly, are elected by first past the post voting in two rounds for a term of five years, notwithstanding a dissolution of the Assembly. Each constituency has around 100,000 residents, though some variance of size exists between rural and urban constituencies. For example, the Val-d'Oise constituency has 188,000 electors, while Lozère has just 34,000.^[1]

Senators are elected by indirect universal suffrage by the grands électeurs, who consist of deputies, regional councillors, departmental councillors and representatives of municipal councillors. The latter constitute 95% of the electoral body.

Organization and powers

Normally, the parliament meets for a single nine-month session each year but under special circumstances the President of France can call an additional session. Parliamentary power was limited after the establishment of the Fourth Republic; however, the National Assembly can still cause a government to fall if an absolute majority of the legislators votes for a motion of no confidence. As a result, the government usually consists of members from the political party that dominates the Assembly and must be supported by a majority there to prevent a vote of no-confidence.

The Prime Minister and other government Ministers are appointed by the President, who is under no constitutional or other mandatory obligation to make governmental appointments from the ranks of the majority party in parliament. This is a safe-guard that was introduced by the founder of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle, to attempt to prevent the disarray and horse-trading seen in the parliamentary regimes of the Third and Fourth Republics; however, in practice the prime minister and other ministers usually do belong to the majority party. A notable exception to this custom occurred during Nicolas Sarkozy's premiership when he appointed socialist ministers and Secretary of State-level junior ministers to his government. The rare periods during which the president is not from the same political party as the prime minister are usually known as cohabitation. The Cabinet of Ministers is led by the President rather than the Prime Minister.

The government (or, when it sits in session every Wednesday, the cabinet) exerts considerable influence on the agenda of Parliament. The government also can link its term to a legislative text which it proposes, and unless a motion of censure is introduced within 24 hours of the proposal and passed within 48 hours of introduction – thus full procedures last at most 72 hours – the text is considered adopted without a vote. However, this procedure was limited by a 2008 constitutional amendment. Legislative initiative rests with the National Assembly.

Legislators enjoy parliamentary immunity.^[2] Both assemblies have committees that write reports on a variety of topics. If necessary, they can establish parliamentary commissions of inquiry with broad investigative power. However, this is almost never exercised because the majority can reject a proposition by the opposition to create an investigatory commission. Also, such a commission may only be created if it does not interfere with a judicial investigation, meaning that in order to cancel its creation, one just needs to press charges on the topic concerned by the investigatory commission. Since 2008, the opposition may impose the creation of an investigative commission once a year, even against the wishes of the majority. However, they still cannot lead investigations if there is a judicial case in process already (or that starts after the commission is formed).

List

Notes

^ The Tribunate was abolished by a decree of the Senate in 1807, with its remaining functions and members absorbed into the Corps législatif.

References

^ Source in French: Stéphane Mandard (2007) Un rapport préconisait le remodelage des circonscriptions avant les législatives de 2007, Le Monde. 7 juin 2007.
^ In France, for nearly a century, article 121 of the Penal Code punished with civic degradation all police officers, all prosecutors and all judges if they had caused, issued or signed a judgment, an order or a warrant, tending to a personal process or an accusation against a member of the Senate or of the legislative body, without the authorization prescribed by the Constitutions: Buonomo, Giampiero (2014). "Immunità parlamentari: Why not?". L'Ago e Il Filo. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2016.

This article is based mainly on the article Parlement français from the French Wikipedia, Retrieved 13 October 2006.

External links

Official website (in French)
Site of the CHPP (Comité d'histoire parlementaire et politique) and of Parlement(s), Revue d'histoire politique (in French)

[1] The Tribunate was abolished by a decree of the Senate in 1807, with its remaining functions and members absorbed into the Corps législatif.

[Stéphane_Mandard-2] Source in French: Stéphane Mandard (2007) Un rapport préconisait le remodelage des circonscriptions avant les législatives de 2007, Le Monde. 7 juin 2007.

[3] In France, for nearly a century, article 121 of the Penal Code punished with civic degradation all police officers, all prosecutors and all judges if they had caused, issued or signed a judgment, an order or a warrant, tending to a personal process or an accusation against a member of the Senate or of the legislative body, without the authorization prescribed by the Constitutions: Buonomo, Giampiero (2014). "Immunità parlamentari: Why not?". L'Ago e Il Filo. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2016.

[Note 1]

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 *{{Color box|#C0C0C0|border=darkgray}} [[Administrative meeting of senators not appearing on the list of any group|RASNAG]] (3)
 | political_groups2  =
-'''[[Borne government|Government]] (245)'''
+'''[[Borne government|Minority government]] (245)'''
-*{{Color box|{{party color|La République En Marche!}}|border=darkgray}} [[Ensemble Citoyens|Together]] (245)
+*{{Color box|{{party color|La République En Marche!}}|border=darkgray}} [[Ensemble Citoyens|Ensemble]] (245)
 **{{Color box|{{party color|La République En Marche!}}|border=darkgray}} [[La République En Marche!|LREM]] (168)
-***{{Color box|{{party color|Agir (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Agir (France)|Agir]] ()
+**{{Color box|{{party color|Territories of Progress}}|border=darkgray}} [[Territories of Progress|TDP]] ()
-***{{Color box|{{party color|Territories of Progress}}|border=darkgray}} [[Territories of Progress|TDP]] ()
-***{{Color box|{{party color|Radical Party (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Radical Party (France)|PRV]] ()
-***{{Color box|green|border=darkgray}} [[En Commun|EC]] ()
 **{{Color box|{{party color|Democratic Movement (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Democratic Movement (France)|MoDem]] (48)
 **{{Color box|{{party color|Horizons (political party)}}|border=darkgray}}  [[Horizons (political party)|Horizons]] (27)
+**{{Color box|{{party color|Radical Party (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Radical Party (France)|PR]] (3)
+**{{Color box|{{party color|Agir (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Agir (France)|Agir]] (2)
+**{{Color box|lightgreen|border=darkgray}} [[En Commun|EC]] (1)
+**{{Color box|{{party color|Union for French Democracy}}|border=darkgray}} [[Caledonia Together|CE]] (1)
+**{{Color box|yellow|border=darkgray}} [[Nicolas Metzdorf|GNC]] (1)
 '''[[Parliamentary opposition|Opposition]] (332)'''
-*{{Color box|{{party color|La France Insoumise}}|border=darkgray}} [[New Ecologic and Social People's Union|NUPES]] (131)
+*{{Color box|{{party color|Nouvelle Union Populaire écologiste et sociale}}|border=darkgray}} [[New Ecologic and Social People's Union|NUPES]] (131)
 **{{Color box|{{party color|La France Insoumise}}|border=darkgray}} [[La France Insoumise|LFI]] (72)
-**{{Color box|#67B31B|border=darkgray}} [[Ecologist Pole|PE]] (27)
 **{{Color box|{{party color|Socialist Party (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[Socialist Party (France)|PS]] (26)
+**{{Color box|#67B31B|border=darkgray}} [[Ecologist Pole|PE]] (21)
+***{{Color box|{{party color|Europe Ecology – The Greens}}|border=darkgray}} [[Europe Ecology – The Greens|EELV]] (14)
+***{{Color box|#CD3266|border=darkgray}} [[Génération.s|G.s]] (4)
+***{{Color box|{{party color|Ecology Generation}}|border=darkgray}} [[Ecology Generation|GÉ]] (2)
+***{{Color box|{{party color|The New Democrats}}|border=darkgray}} [[The New Democrats|ND]] (1)
 **{{Color box|{{party color|French Communist Party}}|border=darkgray}} [[French Communist Party|PCF]] (12)
 *{{Color box|{{party color|National Rally}}|border=darkgray}} [[National Rally|RN]] (89)
-*{{Color box|#B9DAFF|border=darkgray}} [[Union of the Right and Centre|UDC]] (64)
+*{{Color box|#71BBDE|border=darkgray}} [[Union of the Right and Centre|UDC]] (64)
-**{{Color box|{{party color|The Republicans (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[The Republicans (France)|LR]] (61)
+**{{Color box|{{party color|The Republicans (France)}}|border=darkgray}} [[The Republicans (France)|LR]] (60)
+***{{Color box|{{party color|Archipelago Tomorrow}}|border=darkgray}} [[Archipelago Tomorrow|AD]] (1)
 **{{Color box|{{party color|Union of Democrats and Independents}}|border=darkgray}} [[Union of Democrats and Independents|UDI]] (3)
+**{{Color box|{{party color|Les Centristes}}|border=darkgray}} [[The Centrists|LC]] (1)
 *{{Color box|{{party color|Debout la France}}|border=darkgray}} [[Debout la France|DLF]] (1)
-*{{Color box|#FFC0CB|border=darkgray}} [[Miscellaneous Left|DVG]] (22)
+*{{Color box|#FFC0CB|border=darkgray}} [[Miscellaneous left|DVG]] (22)
 *{{Color box|#CCCCFF|border=darkgray}} [[Miscellaneous right|DVD]] (10)
-*{{Colorbox|#FCE883|border=darkgray}} [[Regionalism|REG]]{{dn|date=June 2022}} (10)
+*{{Colorbox|#FCE883|border=darkgray}} [[Regionalism in France|REG]] (10)
 *{{Color box|#FFFF99|border=darkgray}} [[Miscellaneous centre|DVC]] (4)
-*{{Colorbox|#DDDDDD|border=darkgray}} [[Independent Politician|DIV]] (1)
+*{{Colorbox|#DDDDDD|border=darkgray}} [[sans étiquette|DIV]] (1)
 | committees1      =
 | committees2      =

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