Law of France

Module 4

Rights, secularism and administrative law: fundamental rights, laïcité, administrative acts, the recours pour excès de pouvoir, state liability, public contracts and tax

French public law has two characteristics that set it apart. First, its rights come from **texts of different periods** that the Constitution has gathered together, and, since 1971, courts have applied them. Second, the control of the administration is done not by ordinary courts but by a **separate administrative judge**, who has developed most of the rules himself, case by case. This module covers both: the texts and the case law on rights, including the special French principle of **laïcité** (secularism), then the main tools of administrative law (the acts, the grounds of annulment, the remedies, the liability of the state and public contracts), and finally the basic rules of tax and public finance, where the Constitution gives Parliament the central role.

General education on French law, using invented people and businesses. It states constitutional provisions, codes and landmark decisions in simplified form, and it is not legal advice. The law changes and every case turns on its facts. Consult a lawyer qualified in France for any real matter.