France



1. Constitutional structure and position of IHL in domestic law

France is a centralized State with a presidential system. The French Constitution of 4October 1958 distinguishes between treaties negotiated and ratified by the President of the Republic and other international agreements (Article 52). The President of the Republic is responsible for seeing that treaties are observed (Article 5). An Act of Parliament is necessary to ratify or approve important treaties or agreements such as those relating to international organization, those that modify provisions which are matters for statute, and peace treaties (Article 53).

Duly ratified or approved treaties and international agreements have, upon publication (which requires a decree signed by the President of the Republic), primacy over national legislation. Although this primacy is subject to the application of the treaty or agreement by the other party (Article 55), the constitutionality of the treaty or agreement does not depend on the other party reciprocating. It should be emphasized that the French Constitutional Council affirmed in a recent decision that the reciprocity rule does not apply in the case of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, since a State must honour its humanitarian commitments without regard to the application of similar commitments by other States (decision No. 98-408 DC, 22 January 1999).

The 1949 Geneva Conventions were ratified by the President of the Republic on June 1951 following an Act of Parliament (Law No. 51-161 of 16 February 1951) and were published in French by decree No.52-253 of 28 February 1952 (Journal Officiel de la République Française, 6 March 1952, pp. 2617 ff.). France became party to Additional Protocol II on 24 February 1984 and to Additional Protocol I on 11 April 2001.


2. Implementing institution

The "Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme" (CNCDH) is the permanent organ responsible for the implementation and development of international humanitarian law in France. Originally set up in 1947 to deal with human rights matters, the CNCDH received a formal mandate, under a decree issued by the Prime Minister on 11 September 1996 (decree No.96-791), to deal with any question relating to humanitarian emergencies and to promote and ensure implementation of international humanitarian law. It is formed by representatives of the executive, judiciary and legislative branches, of national associations such as the French Red Cross and labour unions, and by private individuals and French experts from international human rights bodies.

While the general mandate of the CNCDH is to advise the government on human rights and humanitarian emergencies and to facilitate coordination between the authorities and non-governmental organizations in these matters, the specific mandate of the subcommittee on humanitarian law and action ("group F"), established on 10 December 1996, is to handle any problem having to do with humanitarian emergencies, to share information on mechanisms designed to deal with such emergencies, to reflect on and make proposals for the coordination of various types of bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental aid in crisis situations, to establish working groups on matters specifically relating to humanitarian action, to improve the partnership between the authorities and non-governmental organizations in international humanitarian activities, and to promote and ensure implementation of international humanitarian law.


In pursuance of its mandate, the CNCDH has on several occasions had to deal with matters relating to international humanitarian law. It has submitted advisory opinions to the government favouring France's ratification of the Additional Protocols of 1977, and memoranda on legislative and administrative measures to be taken to ensure application of provisions of international humanitarian law at the national level and to promote its dissemination.


3. Bibliography

- M.-P. BESSON DE VEZAC, "Les sanctions des violations des Conventions de Genève du 12 août 1949", Droit et défense, No. 97/3, 1997, pp. 4-12.

- F. BOUCHER-SAULNIER, "Les juges français sourds aux plaintes des victimes", Justice, No 49, July 1996, pp. 3-7.

- F. CLAIR, "Répression des infractions aux Conventions de Genève et au Protocole I dans le système français", Revue de droit pénal militaire et de la guerre, 1982, pp. 435-449.

- P. DALLIER, "La pratique française en matière de répression nationale des infractions graves aux Conventions de Genève de 1949 et de leurs Protocoles additionnels (crimes de guerre et crimes contre l'humanité)", in: Crimini di guerra e competenza delle Giurisdizioni Nazionali, Atti del Convegno, Milano, 15-17 maggio 1997 / a cure di Pierluigi Lamberti Zanardi Gabriella Venturini - Milano: Dott. A. Giuffrè Editore - 1998, pp. 125-138.

- P. DALLIER, "La répression pénale en France des «crimes de guerre et des crimes contre l'humanité» en ex-Yougoslavie", in: Dai tribunali penali internazionali ad hoc a una corte permanente, Atti del Convegno, Roma 15-16 dicembre 1995, pp. 223-235.

- M. DELMAS-MARTY and, C. LAZERGES, "A propos du nouveau code pénal français", Revue de droit pénal et de criminologie, February 1997, pp. 133-184.

- G. DOUCET, "Le droit international dans le nouveau code pénal français", Situation, n° 24, Printemps 1994.

- J. FRANCILLON, "Crimes de guerre - crimes contre l'humanité", Jurisclasseurs Droit Pénal International, Fasc. 410, 3, 1993.

- C. GRYNFOGEL, "Le concept de crime contre l'humanité: hier, aujourd'hui et demain", Revue de droit pénal et de criminologie, July-August 1998, pp. 758-779.

- C. LOMBOIS, "De la compassion territoriale", April-June 1995, pp. 399-403.

- C. LOMBOIS, "Un crime international en droit positif français", Droit pénal contemporain, mélanges en l'honneur d'A. Vitu, Editions Cujas, 1989, pp. 374-375.

- M. MASSE, "Ex-Yougoslavie, Rwanda: Une compétence «virtuelle» des juridictions françaises?", Revue de science criminelle et de droit pénal comparé (4), October-December 1997, pp. 893-898.

- M. MASSE, "La compétence pénale française dans l'espace depuis l'entrée en vigueur du nouveau code pénal", Revue de science criminelle et de droit pénal comparé (4), October-December 1995, pp. 856-862.

- M. MASSE, "Les crimes contre l'humanité dans le nouveau code pénal français", Revue de science criminelle et de droit pénal comparé, 1994/2, pp. 376-383.