From 28 August to 29 October a thematic exhibition "The Constitution of France: the Origins and Formation", dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Constitution of the French Republic adoption, is opened in the Legal Information reading room (room 207b).
France made a special contribution to the development of constitutional and legal theory and practice. Since the Great Bourgeois Revolution of 1789, 17 constitutions and constitutional charters have been adopted in the republic. The Constitution of 1958, adopted at a referendum, established the Fifth Republic in France, laid the foundations for a new organization of supreme bodies of state power, which in the literature was called the semi-presidential (mixed) form of government.
For the first time in the French republican history, the constitutional text was not developed by the constituent assembly. By the law of June 1, 1958, his preparation was delegated to a popular politician, General Charles de Gaulle.
The current Constitution includes three acts: the Constitution of 1958, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789 and the Preamble of the Constitution of 1946.
The 1958 Constitution consists of a short preamble and 15 sections divided into 93 articles. It lacks the usual for modern acts chapter on the rights and freedoms of citizens. The preamble is limited to the reference to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789 and the Preamble of the Constitution of 1946, which in this part remains valid from the legal point of view. For nearly 10 years after the Constitution was voted on, there was no consensus in the French courts about the legal strength of the DPAH and the Preamble of the 1946 Constitution. Only after decades (in 1970) and the Constitutional and State Council came to the opinion that the norms of these documents are an integral part of the current law. Courts should use them when considering specific cases.
The Constitution of 1958 defined the main parameters of the state, establishing that France is an indivisible, secular, democratic and social republic. The principle of the republic is "The government of the people, according to the will of the people and for the people" (Article 2).
The supreme law of the French legal system has been amended 24 times since its publication, either legislatively, or by parliament in Congress, or directly by a popular referendum. On July 21, 2008, the French parliament, with a margin of just one vote, approved the proposal of President Nicolas Sarkozy to introduce a number of amendments to the text of the Basic Law. In particular, they provided for the limitation of the presidential term (no more than two 5-year terms in a row).
At the present time, the Constitution consists of 16 sections, 104 articles (including temporary) and Preamble.
The exhibition is addressed to students, post-graduate students, professors of law, experts in the field of constitutional and international law, political scientists, as well as all who are interested in the political and legal life of foreign countries.
The exposition presents about 80 documents: books, brochures, periodicals, abstracts of theses.
The exhibition includes the following topics:
- History of the development of French constitutions and their institutions
- Constitution of the Fifth French Republic: adoption and reform
- Features of constitutional law and constitutional review in France
- Presidential authority of France
- Parliament of the French Republic
- French judicial system
- Law and Lawmaking in France
The opening hours of the exhibition corresponds to the library’s opening hours.
Entrance to the exhibition is available by the library ticket or ticket of the library's social and cultural center.
