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Constitutional Reform in Britain and France

Constitutional Reform in Britain and France

Elizabeth Gibson-Morgan

(2017)

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Abstract

Any attempt at comparing contemporary change in the UK and France is a bold one, since it means discussing two very different countries with strong distinctive constitutional identities. This book places its emphasis on the shared historical, political and cultural background of the UK and France, before focusing on the sweeping transformation of their constitutional frameworks in the past quarter of a century at a national and regional level – with a particular emphasis on Wales and Scotland – which culminated in the June 2016 referendum on Britain’s EU membership. Instead of examining each country separately, however, as is traditional, this study breaks new ground by explaining the pattern of institutional development in Britain and France from a comparative Franco-British perspective. It explores the complexities of recent constitutional change in both countries in an original and comprehensive way, and gives both British and French readers a deeper understanding of the two countries that have some much in common even though Brexit could drive them apart.


Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Cover Front Cover
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Dedication v
Contents vii
List of Abbreviations xi
Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter One: Constitutional Change: Codifying the British Constitution, Rewriting the French 11
The French constitution as a living organism and the British constitution in flux 14
Amending the British constitution 16
Revising the constitution of the ‘one and indivisible’ Republic 21
Unprecedented constitutional change: towards a constitutional revolution? 24
Conclusion 30
Chapter Two: The French Presidency and the British Monarchy: Changed and yet Unchanging Institutions 37
An unbalanced executive–legislative relationship: a common area of concern 37
The search for the perfect constitution: French hesitations between a presidential regime and a British type of parliamentary regime 39
Blurred lines between the Head of State and the Head of Government 42
The nomination of French and British Prime Ministers 42
The lack of a clear mandate for the French and British Prime Ministers 44
The presidential drift of the French system and the all-powerful British Prime Minister 46
The non-accountability of the French President and the British monarch 49
The immunity from suit of the French and British Heads of State 50
The French President’s political interference and the lobbying practices of the monarch-in-waiting 51
Conclusion 55
Chapter Three: Emancipating and Reforming Parliaments in France and the United Kingdom 59
Rationalised parliamentarianism: its decline in France and its emergence in Britain 59
Reactivating conventions and constitutional practice in French and English parliamentary law 61
Reviving bicameralism in the United Kingdom and France 66
Undemocratically elected yet more legitimate second chambers 67
The House of Lords and the French Senate as counter-powers and custodians of freedoms and stability 71
Revisiting the myth of the non-reform of the Senate and the House of Lords 74
The abolition of the hereditary principle and the end of a structural Conservative majority 76
The shorter, more democratic mandate of French senators and a better representation of urban constituencies 78
The election process of French senators partly based on PR and the failed attempt at introducing a form of PR in the UK Parliament 80
A French Senate-type upper limit as a potential solution for an ever-growing Lords 82
Failed attempts at introducing PR in the French National Assembly and in the Commons 84
Strengthening parliamentary control over the executive 87
French ‘Questions to the Government’ and Prime Minister’s Questions in the UK 87
French and British committees as the cornerstone of parliamentary life 89
Conclusion 92
Chapter Four: Better Protecting Human Rights and Strengthening an Independent Judiciary 99
Asserting the unity of the English judiciary compared with the French division of courts 100
Strengthening the independence of the judiciary in England and France 103
A formal separation between the judiciary and the legislature with the Constitutional Reform Act (2005) 104
The development of constitutional justice in France 106
The President of the Republic in France, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice as guarantors of the independence of justice 107
French judges as symbols of Republican Law, British judges as Her Majesty’s judges 109
The lack of diversity in the higher judiciary in the UK and in France 110
The importance of local justice in the UK and in France with the lay Bench 116
Human rights under threat: a French state of emergency and British inroads into civil liberties 117
Conclusion 122
Chapter Five: Devolution in the United Kingdom, a Decentralisation Process in France 131
Piecemeal territorial reforms in France and the UK: common trends and patterns 133
The origin of contemporary devolution in the UK and decentralisation in France 135
The 1982 and 1983 decentralisation or Deferre Laws: a minimalist form of devolution 136
The Kilbrandon Report (1973) as the catalyst for devolution in the UK 138
The legal framework: no clear division of competences 139
The French general competence clause and British transfers of competences to separate devolved governments 140
A reserved-powers model for Scotland, a conferred-powers model for Wales 142
Abolishing French régions or départements: a permanent dilemma 143
Pressing for more decentralisation in France and more devolution in the UK 145
The financial framework: devolved administrations’ and territorial communities’ limited fiscal responsibility 146
The way ahead: a revisited Union and a more diverse Republic 151
Conclusion 160
Chapter 6: The European Dimension: France and the UK, Partners in Europe 169
War powers and parliamentary consent in France and the United Kingdom 171
A tradition of human rights in common within the Council of Europe 175
Constitutional issues triggered by a common EU membership 179
The 2005 French referendum on the European constitution and the 2016 referendum on the UK’s EU membership 186
Conclusion 194
Conclusion: Towards a New Entente Cordiale 203
Bibliography 209
Index 215
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