Legislative sources

I. General characteristics of legislation.
Legislation is the primary source of French law, at least in the domain of private law. It is importsant to not that “administrative law” has been created mainly by the courts, particularly by the Conseil d’état (the highest administrative court).
Legislative sources can be classified under four main categories:
-constitution
-treaties
-lois (parliamentary statute)
-réglements (government regulations)
This approach has a theoretical basis in Rousseau’s works but also in the separation of powers.
In addition, circulaires are directives and instructions issued by relevant ministries to their agents, instructing them on how to interpret and apply new legislation.
Legislative sources are categorised in accordance with a legal hierarchy whereby a norm lower in the hierarchy must conform to norms at a higher level. This “hiérarchie des normes” is based on the Austrian Hans Kelsen’s Pure Theory of Law. At the top is a ‘basic norm’ from which the others derive. Each norm is created and empowered by the norm higher than it.
The hiérarchie des norms:
• Constitution
1789 Declaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen
Preamble to the 1946 Constitution
Fundamental principles
2004 Charter for the Environment
• Treaties (International and EU)
EU directives and Regulations
• Lois
Lois organiques
Lois référendaires
Lois ordinaires
• Ordonnances
• Réglements

A) Constitution
Since the revolution of 1789 there have been 15 written constitutions. The current one is that of the 5th Republic promulgated on 4th October 1958.
The bloc de constitutionnalité includes:
-Les droits de l’homme et du citoyen, 1789 equality under law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the presumption of innocence.
-Preamble of the 1946 Constitution social and economic rights, the right to work,to form trade unions, to strike; the right to education and the right to health protection.
-The fundamental