| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
|
POLITICAL SYSTEM
|
| Type of political regime |
presidential |
| Notes |
The President of the Republic is the Head of State (Article 34 of the Constitution). He or she embodies national unity, oversees respect for the Constitution, ensures the continuity of the State and is the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and respect for international commitments. |
| Head of the executive |
President of the Republic |
| Notes |
The President is the exclusive bearer of executive power. He is the head of the civil service and appoints civil and military personnel. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government and reports to the President (Article 41 of the Constitution) |
| Method for appointing the executive |
The President is elected on the basis of universal direct suffrage. He appoints the Prime Minister and dismisses him from office. The Prime Minister leads and coordinates governmental activity. Upon the proposal of the Prime Minister the President appoints the other members of the Government and sets out their remit. He dismisses them from office under the same conditions. |
| Term of office of the executive and coincidence with the term of the legislature |
The President is elected for a term of five years. His term in office coincides with that of the parliament, which also lasts five years. |
| Incompatibility of the functions of member of the executive and member of Parliament |
Yes |
The functions of the members of the Government are incompatible with all employment and professional activity. Parliamentarians appointed as members of the Government may not sit in the National Assembly for the duration of their ministerial term (Article 56 of the Constitution). |
| Dissolution of Parliament |
No |
|
|
|
Not applicable |
|
|
Not applicable |
|
ACCOUNTABILITY
|
| Accountability of Government to Parliament |
No |
The President is the exclusive bearer of executive power and is the head of the civil service. He appoints the Prime Minister who is responsible to him (Article 41 of the Constitution). |
| Modalities of oversight |
- Oral and written questions of parliamentarians
|
Parliamentarians may put oral and written questions to the Government. The President must reply within a month of the question being asked. However, in exceptional circumstances or so as to gather information for the response, he may ask for an extended deadline that may not exceed one month. For oral questions, the deputy may request when delivering his or her question that the presidential reply be followed by parliamentary debate. At the request of one quarter of the deputies, whose presence must be accounted for by a role call, an oral question that has just been answered may, upon the Assembly's decision, also be turned into an oral question with debate. The inclusion of oral questions in the agenda is decided by a chairmen's conference. Questions may only be included if they were submitted eight days before the meeting. |
- Government reports to Parliament
|
Not applicable |
| Measures |
- Vote of confidence on Government programs and/or legislative proposals
|
Not applicable |
| Motions of censure and votes of no confidence (sub-report) |
|
|
Not applicable |
|
|
Not applicable |
|
|
Not applicable |
| Dismissal and/or impeachment of Government and other public officials (sub-report) |
- Circumstances and persons concerned
|
The President is not responsible for actions carried out during the exercise of his office and is only brought before the High Court of Justice in the case of high treason (Article 109 of the Constitution). The Court is also competent to judge members of the Government for acts that qualify as crimes or crimes committed in the exercise of their office (Article 110 of the Constitution). |
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|
The indictment of the President is decided at the National Assembly by secret ballot with a two-thirds majority and that of the members of the Government by an absolute majority. |
|
|
Over the course of the past ten years, no indictment has taken place. |
- Have these procedures been applied?
|
|
|
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OVERSIGHT OVER THE ACTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
|
| Oversight over the actions of the Government administration |
No |
The President is the exclusive bearer of executive power and is the head of the civil service. The Prime Minister, the head of the Government, is responsible to him. The National Assembly information media with regard to government administration action is oral questions, written questions and committees of inquiry. Ministers may also be heard at the request of the committees. |
| Means and modalities of oversight |
|
|
The members of the Government have access to the committees of the National Assembly (Article 83 of the Constitution). They are heard at the request of the committees, and have the right to be aided or represented by government commissioners. |
- Committees of inquiry and missions to Government departments
|
The parliament exercises control over governmental administration via committees of inquiry and missions to the Government to audit public financial services. |
- Oral and written questions of parliamentarians
|
Every deputy wishing to ask a question hands the wording to the President of the National Assembly. Oral questions are submitted in the same form as written questions. During the course of an ordinary session, one sitting per month is reserved for giving priority to deputies' questions and presidential replies. The President may delegate to the head of the Government and ministers the authority to reply to deputies' questions. In those circumstances, the National Assembly may adopt a resolution to make recommendations to the Government.
Written questions must be composed summarily and must not contain any slander directed at named third parties. They are communicated to the President via an intermediary from the General Secretariat of the Government and are published in the official journal during as well as outside the sessions. The President's replies must also be published there during the month that follows this publication. The replies are handed to the authors of the questions via the President of the National Assembly. All written questions, which have not been replied to within the designated time limit, are converted to oral questions if their author so requests. |
- Role of Parliament in the appointment of senior Government officials
|
Not applicable |
- Activity reports of the Government administration and of public services or establishments
|
Not applicable |
- Representation of Parliament in governing bodies of the Government administration
|
Not applicable |
| Existence of an ombudsman |
Yes |
|
- Method for appointing the executive
|
The Ombudsman is appointed by the President for a term of six years not renewable following the advice of the Chairman of the National Assembly (Article 116 of the Constitution). The President may dismiss him or her from office before this term expires in case of unforeseen difficulties noted by the Constitutional Council on referral. |
- Relationship to Parliament
|
The Ombudsman is an independent administrative authority, vested with a public service mission, who does not receive instructions from any authority. He or she may not be prosecuted, searched, arrested, detained or judged as a result of opinions or actions carried out by him/her in the exercise of his/her office. The functions of the Ombudsman are incompatible with any other political function, any other public employment and all other professional activity. However, the attributions, organization and functioning of the Ombudsman are fixed in a law which has not yet been adopted. |
|
BUDGETARY OVERSIGHT
|
| Consultation of Parliament in the preparation of the national budget
|
No |
Not applicable |
| Modalities of oversight |
- Examination of the budget / finance act by Parliament
|
The parliament exercises budgetary control when the finance bill is being examined, with supremacy over the debate. The deputies have a right of amendment though limited by the principle of compensated amendments (Article 78 of the Constitution). The proposals and amendments put forward by the members of the National Assembly are not acceptable when their adoption would lead either to diminishing public resources, or creating or increasing a public expense, unless they are accompanied by a proposal for an increase in revenue or equivalent savings. Finance bills determine state rates and taxes, and programme bills fix objectives for the State's economic and social activity. A bill must forecast the revenue required for covering all expenses and the Assembly passes a balanced budget. |
- Reports on the budget / finance act by Committees
|
The Economic and Financial Affairs Committee may exercise budgetary control through reports. The members of this committee have special authority since they are able to operate close to the ministers and to public audit services that they deem important. They have the right to demand a certain number of documents and controls, in particular a summary table per workforce service and a statement per section on expenditure commitments, authorized expenses, revenue orders, and recoveries effected. |
| Fields overseen |
|
|
The parliament exercises control over all public funds. |
- Budget of special departments
|
The parliament exercises control over all public funds. |
- Role of Parliament in national development plans
|
The parliament plays a role here in discussing and voting on the programme laws that fix the objectives for the economic and social activity of the State. Moreover, cases that have financial implications are obligatorily subject to the opinion of the Economic and Financial Affairs Committee before being presented to the National Assembly. |
| Parliament's deadline for the examination and adoption of the budget / finance act |
The finance bill is referred to the National Assembly from the start of the October session, which begins on the first Wednesday of October and finishes on the third Friday of December. The deadline for adopting the finance bill is therefore 70 days. |
| Consequences of failure by Parliament to adopt the budget / finance act |
If the finance bill could not be submitted in time for it to be promulgated before the beginning of the financial year, the President urgently requests the National Assembly for the authorization to resume the budget from the previous year on the basis of the provisional twelfth. If the parliament has not adopted it, the parliamentary bill may be brought into force by ordinance. The President refers to the National Assembly convened in extraordinary session for ratification within fifteen days. If the National Assembly has not voted on the budget at the end of the session, the budget is established definitively by ordinance. |
| Budgetary autonomy of Parliament |
Yes |
The Economic and Financial Affairs Committee examines and approves the budget proposal established by the parliamentary administrators with the consent of the office, before it is submitted to the parliament. The Committee is responsible for controlling the accounting and management of the funds allocated to national assembly spending, as provided by the accountancy bylaw. To this end, when the financial year is over, the parliamentary administrators present a report on the execution of the Assembly's budget. The Committee balances the Assembly's funds and presents a report on its operations in the month following the presentation of the parliamentary administrators' report. The parliament adjudicates the Committee's report at the same time as the parliamentary bill carrying the final settlement for the current year. |
|
OVERSIGHT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET AND OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING
|
| Evaluation of Government spending |
| Parliament approves Government expenditures annually |
Yes |
The National Assembly settles the national accounts within the investment law according to terms set out in the finance bill. The settlement bill must be presented to the office of the Assembly one year on after the implementation of the budget. |
| Parliamentary oversight of public companies |
Yes |
The Economic and Financial Affairs Committee may exercise budgetary control through reports. |
| Modalities of oversight |
- Body for auditing the Government's books and method for appointing
|
Before the Court of Auditors has been set up, it is the Accounts Chamber of the Supreme Court that audits the public accounts. This body is not appointed by the parliament. |
- Reports of the public auditor's office
|
Each year, a report, on observations made during several audits carried out over the course of the preceding year as well as on the management and result of the companies it controls, is presented to the President of the National Assembly at the same time as the regulation bill. |
|
|
The Economic and Financial Affairs Committee may exercise budgetary control through reports. The members of this committee have special authority, as they can operate close to the ministers and public auditing services they consider important. |
|
OVERSIGHT OVER FOREIGN POLICY
|
| Foreign Relations Committee (sub-report) |
- Functions of the Committee
|
The parliament exercises a control over foreign policy via the Foreign Relations Committee. |
|
|
The Foreign Relations Committee has the general powers accredited to committees, in other words of inquiry and information. |
- Composition of the Committee
|
The composition of the Committee reflects the numerical strength of each party in the parliament. |
- Bilateral visits of Parliament, inter-parliamentary conferences and information missions abroad
|
Not applicable |
- Plenary debates on foreign policy issues
|
The parliament may exercise control over foreign policy by organizing debates in plenary on oral questions with debate. |
| Involvement of Parliament |
- Participation of Parliament in inter-governmental meetings
|
Parliamentarians may participate in inter-governmental meetings at the Government's request. |
- Modalities and procedures for ratifying international treaties and agreements (sub-report)
|
The President negotiates and ratifies bilateral agreements without requesting authorization to ratify at the National Assembly (Article 84 of the Constitution). The same applies to multilateral treaties that are not peace treaties, do not relate to international organization, and do not modify the internal laws of the State. Other treaties may only be ratified under a law. The parliament may make a recommendation to the Government for the other treaties. |
- Other mechanisms for participation in foreign policy by Parliament
|
Apart from the abovementioned, there are no other means of control at the parliament's disposal. |
|
OVERSIGHT OVER NATIONAL DEFENCE POLICY
|
| National Defence Committee (sub-report) |
- Functions of the Committee
|
The parliament exerts control over national defence policy via the Security and Defence Committee. |
|
|
The Security and Defence Committee has the general powers accredited to committees, i.e. of inquiry and information. |
- Composition of the Committee
|
The composition of the Commission reflects the numerical strength of each party in the parliament. |
| Parliamentary oversight of public arms manufacturing companies |
Not applicable |
| Circumstances and involvement |
- Modalities and procedures in case of war, an armed attack or a state of emergency
|
Only a declaration of war is authorized by the National Assembly (Article 73 of the Constitution). |
- Role of Parliament in sending troops abroad
|
Not applicable |
- Other mechanisms for participation in national defence policy by Parliament
|
The parliament controls national defence policy when the finance bill is being examined. |
|
STATE OF EMERGENCY
|
| Circumstances |
When there is a serious and immediate threat to the institutions of the Republic, the independence of the nation, the integrity of its territory or the carrying out of its international obligations or the regular functioning of public constitutional powers is interrupted, the President adopts exceptional measures as required by the circumstances after obligatory consultation with the President of the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council (Article 48 of the Constitution). A state of emergency may be declared by the President on all or part of the territory. |
| Can parliament take the initiative to declare a state of emergency |
No |
|
| Consequences of a state of emergency for Parliament |
The President informs the nation via an message that a state of seige has been decreed at the Council of ministers. The National Assembly then convenes by rights if it is not in session (Article 74 of the Constitution). The extension of a state of siege beyond fifteen days may only be authorized by the National Assembly, by a simple majority of the deputies. Nevertheless, the Assembly's functioning is hindered if the seat of the parliament is within the territorial dominion where the state of emergency is in force. |
|
VERIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTIONALITY AND THE APPLICATION OF LAWS
|
| Modalities of oversight |
- Body ruling on the constitutionality of laws
|
State Court |
The Constitutional Council is judge of the constitutionality of the laws (Article 88 of the Constitution). It is the regulating body for the functioning of public authorities. The Constitutional Council is composed of a President, of ex- Presidents of the Republic, without express renunciation on their part, and of six councillors of whom three are appointed by the President and three by the Presidents of the National Assembly. The Constitutional Council is renewed by a half every three years. |
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|
A legal action before the law has been enforced, or an exceptional remedy after a law has been promulgated may be brought before the Constitutional Council, as may recommendations. Laws may be referred to the Constitutional Council by the President of the National Assembly, or by at least one tenth of the deputies, or by the parliamentary groups. Legally established human rights organizations may also refer laws relating to public freedoms to the Constitutional Council. The Council states by reasoned decision the legislative or regulatory character of the provisions submitted to it. It makes known its judgement on the conformity of the texts with the Constitution within fifteen days of receiving the referral. If urgent this deadline is reduced to eight days.
International commitments referring to Article 84 before their ratification, institutional acts before their promulgation, and the rules of the National Assembly before coming into force, must be referred by the President of the Republic or the President of the National Assembly to the Constitutional Council, which rules on their conformity with the Constitution. Similarly, laws yet to be promulgated may be referred to the Constitutional Council by the President of the Republic, the President of the National Assembly, any parliamentary group, or a tenth of the members of the National Assembly (Article 95 of the Constitution).
When a matter is taken to the Constitutional Council the deadline for the promulgation of laws, the implementation of the rules of the National Assembly and their modifications, and the ratification of rulings are suspended. With the publication of a decision by the Constitutional Council stating that a clause is not contrary to the Constitution, the suspension of the deadline for promulgation ends. If the opposite is true and the clause is inseparable from the law as a whole, it may not be promulgated. If the clause is separable from the law as a whole, the President may either promulgate the aforementioned law with the exception of this clause, or ask the Assembly for a new reading. The decisions of the Constitutional Council are not subject to any form of appeal; they apply to public authorities, all administrative, jurisdictional and military authorities and to all natural or legal persons (Article 98 of the Constitution). |
| Evaluation of laws |
No |
Not applicable |
| Measures |
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Oversight module
