Constitutional Reform in Britain and France

Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: Constitutional Change: codifying the British constitution, rewriting the French 1-The French constitution as a living organism and the British Constitution in flux 2-Amending the British constitution 3-Revising the constitution of ‘the one and indivisible Republic’ 4-Unprecendented constitutional change: towards a constitutional revolution? Chapter 2: The French presidency and the British monarchy: changed and yet unchanging institutions 1-An unbalanced executive-legislative relationship: a common area of concern 2-The search for the perfect constitution: French hesitations between a presidential regime and a British type of parliamentary regime 3-Blurred lines between the Head of State and the Head of Government 3.1-The nomination of French and British Prime Ministers 3.2- The lack of clear mandate of the French and British Prime Ministers 4-The presidential drift of the French system and the all-powerful British Prime Minister 5- The non-accountability of the French President and the British monarch 5.1-The immunity from suit of the French and British Heads of State 5.2-The French President’s political interference and the lobbying practices of the monarch-in-waiting Chapter 3: Emancipating and reforming Parliaments in France and the United Kingdom 1-Rationalised parliamentarianism: its decline in France and its emergence in Britain 2-Reactivating conventions and constitutional practice in French and English parliamentary law 3-Reviving bicameralism in the United Kingdom and France 3.1-Undemocratically elected, yet more legitimate, second chambers 3.2-The House of Lords and the French Senate as counter-powers and custodians of freedoms and stability 4-Revisiting the myth of the non-reform of the Senate and the House of Lords 4.1-The abolition of the hereditary principle and the end of a structural conservative majority 4.2-The shorter more democratic mandate of French senators and a better representation of urban constituencies 5-The election process of French senators partly based on PR and the failed attempt at introducing a form of PR in the UK Parliament 5.1-A French Senate-type upper-limit as a potential solution for an ever-growing Lords 5.2-Failed attempts at introducing PR in the French National Assembly and in the Commons 6-Strengthening parliamentary control over the Executive 6.1-French ‘Questions to the Government’ and Prime Minister’s Questions in the UK 6.2-French and British committees as the cornerstone of parliamentary life Chapter 4: Better protecting human rights and strengthening an independent judiciary 1-Asserting the unity of the English judiciary compared with the French division of courts 2-Strengthening the independence of the judiciary in England and France 2.1- A formal separation between the judiciary and the legislature with the Constitutional Reform Act (2005) 2.2-The development of constitutional justice in France 2.3-The President of the Republic in France, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice as guarantors of the independence of justice 2.4-French judges as symbols of the Republican Law, British judges as Her Majesty’s judges 2.5-The lack of diversity in the Higher Judiciary in the UK and in France 2.6-The importance of local justice in the UK and in France with the Lay Bench 3-Human rights under threat: A French state of emergency and British inroads into civil liberties Chapter 5: Devolution in the United Kingdom, a decentralisation process in France 1-Piecemeal territorial reforms in France and the UK: common trends and patterns 2-The origin of contemporary devolution in the UK and decentralisation in France 2.1-The 1982 and 1983 decentralisation or Deferre Laws: a minimalist form of devolution 2.2-The Kilbrandon Report (1973) as the catalyst for devolution in the UK 3-The legal framework: no clear division of competences 3.1-The French general competence clause and British transfers of competences to separate devolved governments 3.2-A reserved-powers model for Scotland, a conferred-powers model for Wales 3.3-Abolishing French régions or départements: a permanent dilemma 3.4- Pressing for more decentralisation in France and more devolution in the UK 4-The financial framework: devolved administrations’ and territorial communities’ limited fiscal responsibility 5- The way ahead: a revisited Union and a more diverse Republic Chapter 6: The European Dimension: France and the UK, Partners in Europe 1-War powers and parliamentary consent in France and the United Kingdom 2-A tradition of human rights in common within the Council of Europe 3-Constitutional issues triggered by a common EU membership 4-The 2005 French referendum on the European Constitution and the 2016 referendum on the UK’s EU membership Conclusion Bibliography Index