France · Government
Government and administration in France
How the executive, legislature and administrative state are organised, and which body is responsible for what.
The three branches
- Head of State — President of the Republic
- Five-year term, two-term limit.
- Executive — Prime Minister and Government
- Appointed by the President; answerable to the Assembly.
- Legislative — National Assembly and Senate
- 577 deputies; 348 indirectly elected senators.
- Judicial — Judicial and administrative orders
- Career magistrats trained at the ENM.
How legislation is made
A projet or proposition de loi shuttles between the chambers; the Assembly can be given the last word. Organic laws and constitutional amendments follow stricter routes.
Enforcement institutions
- Ministère public
- Prosecutors within the judiciary, headed by the procureur général.
- Police nationale and Gendarmerie nationale
- Urban and rural policing respectively.
- Juge d’instruction
- Investigating magistrate for the most serious cases.
Government bodies and regulators
- executiveMinistry of JusticeAdministers courts, prisons and legal aid.
- executiveFrench Office for Immigration and IntegrationManages legal immigration procedures and integration contracts.
- executiveDirectorate General of Public FinancesAssesses and collects taxes and manages the land registry.
- independentNational Commission on Informatics and LibertySupervises personal data processing in France.
- independentDefender of RightsIndependent constitutional authority protecting rights and equality.
- judicialInfogreffe / Commercial Court RegistryRegistry of companies maintained by commercial court clerks.
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