French Legal System

Description

Features

• Covers the core areas taught at the beginning of courses on French law, therefore giving students a good grounding in the essentials prior to further study.
• Brings the key issues to life by including material from the political arena showing how the system works in practice. 
• Includes chapters on academic and professional law studies in France, and practical illustrations of how to structure essays and exercises for French university requirements, invaluable for students on Erasmus or exchange programmes.

New to this Edition

In-depth discussion of the following important developments since the last edition

• The new Commercial Code
• The new Criminal Justice Act and the introduction of a new appellate Cour d'assises.
• The new court of first instance: le juge de proximité.
• The important legal consequences of the reduction of the presidential term from 7 to 5 years.
• The reforms made to the French university system in order to obtain a European unified university system.
• The changes that the legal profession is currently undergoing to fight increasing competition from foreign law firms.
• The introduction of plea-bargaining in France.
• The consequences of the recent political scandals, with possible changes to the principle of immunity.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface 

Table of cases i

Table of statutes

Table of European and international legislation 

Table of codes 

1 Historical development of French law  

2 The institutional framework under the Constitution  

3 Written sources of law  

4 Unwritten sources of law  

5 The civil and criminal court system  

6 The administrative courts  

7 Miscellaneous courts  

8 Judgments  

9 Civil procedure 

10 Criminal procedure 

11 Administrative procedure 

12 The legal profession 

13 Academic and professional legal studies

14 Practical guidance on studying law 

Appendix 1: The relationship between English legal language and French  

Appendix 2: The French Constitution of 1958  

Select bibliography  

Index  

Back Cover

"It is an eminently readable book and the authors are to be applauded for having included so much in such a modest space. I strongly recommend this book to English-speaking lawyers"  From the foreword by Lord Slynn

This book provides a topical introduction in English to the french legal system. Providing highly readable explanations of the sources of French Law, court structure and characteristics of the legal process, French Legal System provides an essential foundation for the study of more specific and substantive areas of French Law.

Key features

• Brings key issues to life, and places the law in its context, by including material from the political arena showing how the French legal system operates in practice
• Contains chapters on academic and professional law studies in France, and practical illustrations of how to structure essays and exercises, invaluable for students on exchange programmes, including Erasmus/ Socrates schemes
• Each chapter contains chapter bibliographies and internet links which enable students to research relevant material and expand their reading
• Includes an extensive glossary of key French legal terms
• Contains a completely updated and translated version of the French Constitution
• Accompanied by a companion website, at www.pearsoned.co.uk/elliottjeanpierre, which provides regular updates on major legal changes in this area, web links linking to useful internet resources and a glossary of key terms

New to this edition

• Discussion of the introduction of new Criminal Justice legislation
• Analysis of the new neighbourhood court (le juge de proximité)
• Discussion of recent constitutional controversies surrounding the reduction of the presidential term from 7 to 5 years and challenges to the President of the Republic’s immunity.
• Exploration of reforms to the French University System
• Expansion of debates regarding codification in France.

Catherine Elliott is a qualified Barrister and Lecturer in Law at City University.  She has extensive experience of teaching law

Eric Jeanpierre is a Senior Lecturer at Kingston University with extensive experience of teaching French law

Catherine Vernon is a Solicitor and a Senior Lecturer at Ealing School of Law, Thames Valley University

Also by Catherine Elliott

English Legal System 7th edition (with Frances Quinn) 

Criminal Law 6th edition (with Frances Quinn)
Tort Law 5th edition (with Frances Quinn)
Contract Law 5th edition (with Frances Quinn)
AS Law 3rd edition (with Frances Quinn) 

English Legal System Sourcebook

French Legal System and Legal Language: An Introduction in French (with Carole Geirnaert and Florence Houssais)