Constitution of France

The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (French: la Constitution de la Cinquième République), and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a 1971 decision of the Constitutional Council. The current Constitution regards the separation of church and state, democracy, social welfare, and indivisibility as core principles of the French state.^{[non-primary source needed]}

Charles de Gaulle was the main driving force in introducing the new constitution and inaugurating the Fifth Republic, while the text was drafted by Michel Debré. Since then, the constitution has been amended twenty-five times, notably in 2008 and most recently in 2024.

The preamble of the constitution recalls the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from 1789 and establishes France as a secular and democratic country, deriving its sovereignty from the people.

Since 2005 it includes the ten articles of the Charter for the Environment.

The French Constitution established a semi-presidential system of government, with two competing readings. In one reading, the executive branch has both a president of the republic and a prime minister, as is commonly seen in parliamentary systems with a symbolic president and a prime minister who directs the government. This reading is supported by Articles 5 and 21 of the Constitution, which respectively state that the president is a guardian of the state and of the Constitution, while the prime minister has the power to decide on the government's actions and policies.

In the other reading, the parliament is very weak for a parliamentary system. The parliament has a limited legislative competence: article 34 of the Constitution lists domains exclusive to parliamentary legislation, but the remaining domains are left to the executive's regulations. The president also has the crucial powers to call a referendum and to dissolve the National Assembly. While the parliament may pass a vote of no confidence in the government, so that the government has to resign, this has been rare, happening in 1962 and on 4 December 2024.

Charles de Gaulle, the first president of the Fifth Republic, was instrumental in the adoption of the new constitution, as he was called back from retirement and narrowly avoided a coup resulting from the Algerian War. De Gaulle always supported the second interpretation of the constitution, in favor of a powerful president. The first socialist president, François Mitterrand, elected in 1981, also supported this interpretation.

Beginning in 1986, elections have from time to time resulted in parliaments with a majority that did not support the president. Such periods are known in France as cohabitation, where a president appoints a prime minister from the new parliamentary majority. During cohabitation, besides powers reserved to the president by the Constitution, all other government powers would be exercised by the prime minister. In 2000, the Constitution was amended by shortening the president's term of office from seven years to five, to coincide with the term of parliament. The amendment means that the presidential election would take place around the parliamentary election, making it more likely to have winners who agree with one another and make cohabitation less likely.