The Constitutional Council (French: Conseil constitutionnel, [kɔ̃sɛj kɔ̃stitysjɔnɛl]) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules are upheld. It is housed in the Palais-Royal in Paris. Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed statutes conform with the Constitution, after they have been voted by Parliament and before they are signed into law by the president of the republic (a priori review), or passed by the government as a decree, which has law status in many domains, a right granted to the government under delegation of Parliament.

Since 1 March 2010, individual citizens who are party to a trial or a lawsuit have been able to ask for the council to review whether the law applied in the case is constitutional (a posteriori review). In 1971, the council ruled that conformity with the Constitution also entails conformity with two other texts referred to in the preamble of the Constitution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the preamble of the constitution of the Fourth Republic, both of which list constitutional rights.

Members are referred to as les sages ("the wise") in the media and the general public, as well as in the council's own documents. Legal theorist Arthur Dyevre notes that this "tends to make those who dare criticise them look unwise." Since 2025, Richard Ferrand has served as President of the Constitutional Council (Président du Conseil constitutionnel) following his appointment by President Emmanuel Macron and subsequent confirmation.

The Council has two main areas of power:

Examination of laws by the council is compulsory for some acts, such as for organic bills, those which fundamentally affect government, and treaties, which need to be assessed by the council before they are considered ratified (Article 61-1 and 54). Amendments concerning the rules governing parliamentary procedures need to be considered by the council as well. Guidance may be sought from the council in regard to whether reform should come under statute law (voted by Parliament) or whether issues are considered as règlement (regulation) to be adopted with decree of the prime minister. The re-definition of legislative dispositions as regulatory matters initially constituted a significant share of the (then light) caseload of the council.

In the case of other statutes, seeking the oversight of the council is not compulsory. However, the president of the republic, the president of the Senate, the president of the National Assembly, the prime minister, 60 members of the National Assembly, or 60 Senators can submit a statute for examination by the council before its signing into law by the president. In general, it is the parliamentary opposition that brings laws that it deems to infringe civil rights before the council.

Another task, of lesser importance in terms of number of referrals, is the reclassification of statute law into the domain of regulations on the prime minister's request. This happens when the prime minister and his government wish to alter law that has been enacted as statute law, but should instead belong to regulations according to the Constitution. The prime minister has to obtain reclassification from the council prior to taking any decree changing the regulations. This, however, is nowadays only a small fraction of the council's activity: in 2008, out 140 of decisions, only 5 concerned reclassifications.

The Government of France consists of an executive branch (President of the Republic, prime minister, ministers and their services and affiliated organisations); a legislative branch (both houses of Parliament); and a judicial branch.