Comparison betwenn French and English Constitution

Résumé du document

Dissertation en anglais sur la comparaison entre la Constitution française et la Constitution britannique.

Assignment in english on the comparison between the french Constitution and the english one.



In the preamble of the current french constitution, we can find a formula directly coming from the political theory of Montesquieu on the separation of powers in the ideal state. According to the article 16 of the declaration of rights of 1789 (Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen), a state which does not guarantee the separation of powers cannot be legitimate.





1. Obvious differences between british and french system

2. Still some common qualities existing

Extraits

[...] So usually the President prefers to not interfere too much in the state and focus on the leading of his party. But it is not only to this ground than we can show that sometimes Queen and President are closed. We can see also that the powers of the President are nearly the same as the Queen, even inefficient. They both decide the dissolution of the houses. They appoint the Prime Minister. We can even go further, the choice of the Prime Minister is limited. [...]

[...] That is why we can say that the both Parliament are a bit similar. In fact, a Parliament cannot bind the next Parliament. All what was done can be followed or reformed, but if it is not reformed, it is binding The subordination to the Human rights Human rights are a constant reference in the british system. United Kingdom is bind mainly by the European convention of human rights and a lot of international treaty as well. The priority of the international law upon the national law is too important for the Parliament to not follow it. [...]

[...] For example, the Prime Minister is the head of executive and must be a member of the House of Commons, and so must all the Ministers: they are part of the executive and legislative. We can notice also that the Queen belongs to the executives because she is the head of state and at the same time she signs bills, so she is also part of the legislative. The Queen have to respect Conventions. They are unwritten rules which are respected but not unenforceable. For example, the Monarch dissolves Parliament when the Prime Minister asks. [...]

[...] In France, the mechanisms to have such a decision is written at the articles 49 and 50 of the Constitution. In the United Kingdom this procedure finds its roots in the history. The Crown's officers can have undergo a penal procedure named the impeachment. Then, this procedure became a mean of pressure under the Minister, and when he begin to feel threat, he used to leave his function. Finally, Ministers began to resign all together, and it created the notion of solidarity between Ministers Common qualities of the head of state The difference between the Queen and the President are very small when the President is not in the political majority. [...]

[...] Dissolution is often a mean to get the majority in the Houses for the President. Furthermore, he has the possibility to make a referendum to issue any law. It is possible regarding to the article 11 of the Constitution. I govern the administration as well and has a general competence in the regulations (règlements) matter, what it is not the case for the Queen. The difference finally is that the french President uses the competence he has Still some common qualities existing 1. Common qualities on the ground of law 1. [...]