French Legal System: An Introduction Book

The French legal system has in recent years become a subject of increasing interest to lawyers from Britain, yet this interest has tended to be surrounded by a lack of knowledge as to how the system operates. Written in clear, readily accessible terms, this book requires no prior knowledge of the French political and governmental system. The authors aim to explain the French legal system in sufficient breadth and depth to give the reader a full understanding of its operation. They deal not only with topics such as the court structure, legal professions and sources of law, but also matters of proof and procedure before the criminal, civil and administrative courts. A chapter on the development of the system provides the necessary historical context. There are cases, statutory provisions and other illustrative material printed in French accompanying each chapter. After a topic is explained in English, the reader is then able to see how these ideas are expressed in the French language. For example, in the chapter on Constitutional law the test of many of the provisions of the 1958 Constitution, and several important judgments of the Constitutional Council are included. A full bibliography of further reading is supplied for each subject.Read More