Guide last updated by Alice Tyson, November 2022
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We also recommend the following online research guides for foreign jurisdictions.
France (la République Française) is a unitary state and Republic, governed by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (4 October 1958). It is a civil law country with a legal system based on a hierarchy of legal sources (also known as the 'hierachy of norms').
The IALS Library has a good collection on the law of France: legislation, codes, law reports, print and electronic finding tools, academic treatises, and several academic law journals. As with all jurisdictions, priority is normally given to primary sources (statutes, cases) though with the greater importance of what the French call "doctrine" or scholarly legal literature in continental legal systems, the definition has to be broadened to include standard texts on the major fields of law. The databases Lexis360 and Le Doctrinal offer academic users access to electronic collections of legislation, case law, commentary and journals.
The Constitution is the supreme source of law in France. The consolidated version of the Constitution of 1958 is available on Legifrance in French, including amendments. It is also available from on World Constitutions Illustrated (part of the Hein Online database) in French, English and other languages).
Information about the constitution and historic versions can be found on the website of the Conseil Constitutionnnel.
French legislation (loi) includes treaties, the Constitution, codes, statutes and regulations.
Statutes (les Lois) are passed by the French Parliament (Le Parlement). Statutes can take the form of an institutional act (loi organique), ordinary act (loi ordinaire) or ordinance (Ordonnance). The executive can enact regulations (règlements) which take the form of décrets when issued by the President or the Prime Minister, and arrêtés when issued by ministers.
Statutes and regulations are published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française. The Journal Officiel is published daily and is cited as J.O. The Legifrance website makes available the laws published in the Journal Officiel from 1947 to date. Texts from June 2004 to date are certified with an electronic signature. The print version of the Journal ceased in 2015.
Academic researchers at IALS Library can also access the Journal Officiel from both Lexis360 and Doctrinal. Currently Lexis360 is available to all users both onsite and remotely. Remote access to Doctrinal is only available to IALS and SAS students, fellows and staff; other users have onsite access to Doctrinal at IALS Library.
Of historic interest, IALS has the Bulletin des lois (1789-1931).
The full consolidated and official versions of the codes are available in French on Legifrance.
Academic researchers at IALS can also find codes on both Lexis360 and Le Doctrinal. Lexis360 reproduces Legifrance codes, some with added annotations/comments written by authors, academics and practitioners.
IALS Library regularly receives updated print versions of the Code Civil and the Code Pénal, in addition to many other compilations of French law published by Dalloz. The series is known as "Codes Dalloz" (formerly "Petits Codes Dalloz") and around 20 current volumes are available. These are easily recognised by their red covers, and many previous editions are in the reserve collection. The codes offer a systematic and thematic treatment of the current law and are the best starting point to identify the law on a particular topic. Despite the name, the Codes Dalloz can also be a good source of law which is not code; they include many relevant pieces of legislation (lois, ordonnances, décrets, arrêtes, etc) as well as summaries of relevant jurisprudence (case law) and references to doctrinal writing.
IALS Library has some French codes in English translation. See the section of this guide English language works on French law for more information.
Le Doctrinal includes the Journal Officiel, loi, décrets, ordonnance, arrêté and codes.
Lexis360 includes codes with annotations or commentary and the Journal Officiel.
Here is a selection of citations to French legislation. The reference in brackets in each citation is to the Journal Officiel de la République Française. This series is not held by IALS Library, but it is available free on Legifrance.
Loi n° 2000-196 du 6 mars 2000, Loi instituant un Défenseur des enfants
(J.O n° 56 du 7 mars 2000 page 3536)
Décret n° 2000-601 du 30 juin 2000, Décret relatif au régime d'assurance chômage des travailleurs privés d'emploi
(J.O n° 151 du 1 juillet 2000 page 9963)
Ordonnance n° 2000-550 du 15 juin 2000, Ordonnance relative aux parties législatives des livres VII (Dispositions sociales) et IX (Santé publique vétérinaire et protection des végétaux) et à la mise à jour des parties législatives des livres Ier (Aménagement et équipement de l'espace rural), III (Exploitation agricole) et VI (Production et marchés) du code rural
(J.O n° 273 du 25 novembre 2000 page 18790)
Arrêté du 25 mai 1999 modifiant les arrêtés du 24 janvier 1994 modifiés relatifs respectivement aux caractéristiques du gazole et du gazole grand froid
(J.O n° 146 du 26 juin 1999 page 9377)
In France there are two court systems; the judicial system (which comprises civil and criminal courts and is known as l'ordre judiciaire) and the administrative system. A diagram of the French court system is available on the Ministry of Justice website. In civil and criminal cases, appeals from the courts of first instance are heard by one of the appeal courts (Cours d'appel) and then the highest court in the system; the Cour de Cassation. Administrative cases are heard initially in the Tribunal Administratif and may go on appeal to the Cour Administrative d’appel. The highest administrative court is the Conseil d’Etat.
The Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel) is concerned with the constitutionality of legislation and the regularity of elections. It sits outside of the two court systems mentioned above.
Official series and websites
Cour de Cassation
Decisions from the Cour de Cassation are published in the following series, which the Institute Library holds from 1986 to 2007.
Bulletin des arrêts de la Cour de Cassation. (Paris: Imprimerie des Journaux Officiels, 1798-)
The Bulletin is split into two concurrent series - Chambres civiles and Chambre Criminelle - and forms part of the Journal Officiel de la République française.
Decisions of the Cour de Cassation are available on Legifrance under Jurisprudence and on the website of the Cour de Cassation.
Conseil d'Etat
The decisions of the Conseil d'Etat are published in:
Recueil des décisions du Conseil d'Etat, du Tribunal des Conflits et des jugements des tribunaux administratifs, 1821- ; ( available at IALS in print from 1905 onwards and onsite online access is available via Dalloz Revues). It is known by the name of its 19th century editor, Lebon.
Summaries of important decisions are available on the website of the Conseil d'Etat. A selection are available in English at www.conseil-etat.fr/en/judging. Decisions can also be found on Legifrance.
Conseil Constitutionnel
Decisions of the Conseil Constitutionnel are available on the website of the Conseil Constitutionnel and on Legifrance. A selection of cases is available in English from the Conseil Constitutionnel website at: www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/en/selection-of-qpc-decisions.
Commercial subscription databases at IALS Library
The Jurisprudence section on Lexis360 is a source of case law. The database includes decisions of the Conseil constitutionnel, Conseil d'Etat, Cour de cassation, Cours d'appel and other French courts. Many of the cases include added commentary and analysis.
Le Doctrinal also includes a collection of significant French court decisions.
Commercial print sources at IALS Library
Other than the official series and websites, court decisions can be found in the three recueils généraux (general collections).The most common way of looking up decisions of French courts is by the date of the decision or by the subject matter or keyword of the case. Indexes of party names are uncommon. The three recueils généraux are:
All of these titles are held at IALS Library.
Other printed sources at IALS to try:
Below is a selection of citations to decisions of French courts:
|
Citation |
What it means |
|
Cass. Crim., 28 juin 2000, BC no 251, p.741 |
A decision of the Cour de Cassation, Chambre Criminelle, of 28 June 2000, and reported in the Bulletin des Arrêts de la Cour de Cassation, 2000, report number 251, page 741 |
|
1997 TC 12 mai |
A decision of the Tribunal des Conflits, of a case heard on 12 May 1997 |
|
1996 CE 31 juillet |
A decision of the Conseil d'État of 31 July 1996 |
|
1995 CA Rennes, 11 mai |
A decision of the Cour d'Appel de Rennes, of 11 May 1995 |
|
1995 CA Toulouse, 20 juin |
A decision of the Cour d'Appel de Toulouse, of 20 June 1995 |
|
1994 Crim. 9 mai |
A decision of the Cour de Cassation, Chambre Criminelle, of 9 May 1994 |
|
1994 Civ. (1) 12 juillet |
A decision of the Cour de Cassation, Chambre Civile, of 12 July 1994 |
|
1993 CA Paris 15ème ch.B, 24 sept. |
A decision of the Cour d'Appel de Paris, of 24 September 1993 |
|
1993 TGI Aix-en-Provence, 22 déc. |
A decision of the Tribunal de Grand Instance of Aix-en-Provence, of 22 December 1993 |
The database Lexis360 includes a section called Encyclopédies, where users can access a collection of more than 50 JurisClasseurs and other legal encyclopedias. These are regularly revised.
IALS Library holds print copies of Encyclopédie juridique Dalloz titles including Répertoire de droit civil, Répertoire de droit public et administratif and Répertoire de droit international. Most of these works are looseleafs which are no longer updated at IALS and are shelved in the reserve collection. See the catalogue for full details.
Another encyclopaedic work shelved in the reserve collection is Juris-Classeurs, published by Editions Techniques. This work is in loose-leaf format, but is no longer updated at IALS.
IALS has a good collection of French law books on various topics, with current material on the open shelves and older material kept in the reserve collection. French books are shelved in the GO13 classmark. The following list of recent titles has been selected to illustrate briefly the range of subjects and publishers represented in the collection. Search the Library Catalogue for full details of library holdings.
Thierry Bonneau, Droit bancaire (LGDJ, un savoir-faire de Lextenso 2021)
Martin Collet, Droit fiscal (Presses universitaires de France 2022)
Oliver Dord, Droit de la fonction publique (Presses Universitaires de France 2021)
Xavier Dupre de Boulois, Droit des libertés fondamentales (Presses universitaires de France 2022)
Jacques Grosclaude, Droit fiscal général (Dalloz 2021)
Jacques Mestre, Droit commercial (LGDJ, un savoir-faire de Lextenso 2021)
François Terré, Introduction générale au droit (Dalloz 2021)
Agathe Van Lang, Droit de l'environnement (Presses Universitaires de France 2021)
Elisabeth Zoller, Droit constitutionnel (Presses Universitaires de France 2021)
Most of the Library's materials on French law are in French. Below is a list of selected works in English. Refer to the Library Catalogue for full details of library holdings.
Overviews
Alain Levasseur, The legal system of France (Carolina Academic Press 2020)
John Bell, French legal cultures (Butterworths 2001)
Johm Bell and others, Principles of French law (2nd edn, OUP 2008) (also available as an e-book)
Catherine Elliott and others, French legal system (2nd edn, Pearson / Longman 2006)
Eva Steiner, French law: a comparative approach (2nd edn, OUP 2018) (also available as an e-book)
Codes
The French code of civil procedure in English, 2021 translated by Philip Raworth (Thompson Reuters 2021)
The French commercial code in English translated by Philip Raworth (Thomson Reuters 2021)
Other recent works in English include
John Bell, Contemporary French administrative law (CUP 2022)
Nicolas Bouche , Intellectual property law in France (4th edn, Wolters Kluwer 2020)
Jonas Knetsch, Tort law in France (Kluwer 2021)
Pasale Lagesse, Labour and employment compliance in France (9th edn, Kluwer Law International 2021)
Louis Vogel, French consumer law (LawLex 2020)
Printed journals
The Institute holds a number of French law journals in print. These include:
Archives de philosophie du droit (IALS: 1952-)
Droit d'auteur (IALS: 1953-1964)
Droit maritime français (IALS: 1927-)
Droits: revue française de théorie juridique (IALS: 1985-)
Recueil Dalloz (1924-)
Revue administrative (IALS: 1955-2014)
Revue de science criminelle et de droit pénal comparé (IALS: 1961-)
Revue française de droit administratif (IALS: 1985-)
Revue française de droit aérien et spatial (IALS: 1989-)
Revue génerale de droit international public (IALS: 1910-)
Revue générale des assurances terrestres (IALS: 1962-)
Revue historique de droit français et étranger (IALS: 1922-)
Revue juridique de l'environnement (IALS: 1984-)
Revue trimestrielle de droit civil (IALS: 1902-)
Revue trimestrielle de droit commercial et de droit économique (IALS: 1980-)
Revue trimestrielle de droit européen (IALS: 1980-)
Electronic journals and journal indexes
Lexis360 has over 40 law journals. Some are historic i.e. they may not include issues up to present day.
Le Doctrinal contains an index to French law journals. More than 300 journals are indexed, and the database is updated regularly. Some journals of international scope and in English are included in the index. Data starts from 1993.
A small collection of full-text journals is available on Leixs+ International. This includes La semaine juridique - edition générale, La semaine juridique - entreprise et affaires, La semaine juridique - notariale et immobilière, La semaine juridique - social, revue loyers et copropriété and Revue procédures. At the time of writing it was not possible to browse the journals but they could be searched.
A small number of journals published by Editions Dalloz are available online via the Dalloz Revues platform (onsite access only). The journals available are: Recueil dalloz, Revue critique de droit international prive standard, Revue critique de droit international prive, Revue de l'union europeenne, Revue de science criminelle et de droit penal compare, Revue francaise de droit administratif, Revue historique de droit francais et etranger, Revue trimestrielle de droit civil, Revue trimestrielle de droit commercial et de droit economique. All of these titles are available online from 2013 onwards. Use the IALS Library catalogue to locate the titles.
The Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (IFLP) is part of the HeinOnline platform. IFLP covers journals from non-common law jurisdictions, international law and comparative law. It can be used to identify articles in French law journals on a particular legal topic.
Droit.org: Portail du Droit Français: a gateway site on French law
Eagle-i Internet Portal for Law: a guide to good quality law resources on the internet, including many concerned with French law
Germain's French Law Guide: a guide to the French legal system sources of French law written by Claire Germain, former law librarian and Professor of Law at Cornell University
GlobaLex has an article on Researching French Law, by Stéphane Cottin and Jérôme Rabenou, published in June 2017
Jurisguide: guides to sources of French, European and international law produced by Cujas University library in collaboration with eleven other university libraries
The Judiciary in France: a guide to the French judiciary published in English by the Ministry of Justice (2008)
Legifrance: an official French site offering comprehensive access to legislation and case law
Vie-Publique.fr: a site published by the Department of legal and administrative information (Direction de l'information légale et administrative), giving access to many official publications and providing overviews of the key organs of governance and law making in France
World Law: France: a resource guide to French law on the WorldLII site