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Do the Opinions Expressed by the Conseil D'Etat in its Capacity as Legal Adviser to the Government Influence Policy?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2008

Nicole Questiaux
Affiliation:
Honorary President of section of the Conseil d'Etat.

Extract

My title for this article reflects a very proper question for a foreign audience which has become more familiar than in the past with the dual (consultative and judicial) role of the French Conseil d'etat. For many years, interest in Britain focused on the judicial function of the Conseil. More recently, attention has shifted to the activities of the “sections administratives”, which involve the screening and the drafting of all the proposed legislation and the essential part of subordinate regulations prepared by government. I have the feeling this interest is probably fuelled by the recent constitutional changes in the United Kingdom, and the need to prevent legal difficulties cropping up between different and new political bodies.

Type
Shorter Articles, Comments and Notes
Copyright
Copyright © British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2000

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References

1. The avis which the Conseil d'Etat gives to the Government are private and have not been published. For a number of years, the annual report of the Conseil d'Etat has contained a brief statement of the activities of each administrative section in which it reports in general terms on its activity. But it has only been in very recent years (since 1992) that the discussion of the advice given to the Government on legislation has been more detailed. It is thus difficult to give specific references to published situations in which the advice of the Conseil has been followed or rejected by the Government.

2. L'avènement de Bonaparte (6th edn, 1903), Vol.2, pp.529530.Google Scholar

3. See also the reports of the Section de l'intérieur for 1993 and 1995 which has a section headed “Opportunité des textes”: see Etudes et Documents du Conseil d'Etat No.45, p.148 and Etudes et Documents du Conseil d'Etat No.47, pp.212–213.

4. (1987) p.249.

5. See avis of the Section des travaux publics of 7 Jul. 1994, published in (1994) Revue française de droit administratif 1156.

6. See Etudes et Documents du Conseil d'Etat No.45, p.162.

7. See (1990) Actualité juridiquedroit administratif 39.

8. See the ministerial circular which incorporates the Conseil d'Etat's opinion: (1990) Revue française de droit administratif 1 and CE 2 Nov. 1992, Kherouaa, (1993) Revue française de droit administratif 112, conclusions Kessler.