CHAPTER IV.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FRENCH LEGISLATURE.

1

1. The General Principle of Legislative Organization. The constitution establishes the bicameral system with substantial parity of powers in legislation. The one inequality is to be found in the provision that the projects of law respecting the finances must be presented first to the Chamber of Deputies.2 This means that all the measures of finance, when not originated by the executive, must proceed from the Chamber of Deputies, and when originated by the executive must be laid first before the Chamber of Deputies, and passed by it before they can be presented to the Senate.

There is no question that the Senate has the power to reject en bloc the money bills passed by the Deputies. The only question is whether the Senate may amend them. The constitution makes no provision upon this point. The Senate, however, has asserted the power to strike out or decrease a tax or an appropriation; to increase either; and to restore a credit asked for by the executive, but stricken out by the Deputies. I am not aware that the Senate has ever inserted a new tax or appropriation; i.e. one contained neither in a bill originated by the Deputies nor in an executive proposal submitted to the Deputies. We may say, I think, that the Senate has claimed and exercised full power of amendment over the money bills, but that the Deputies have always

1 Loi constitutionnelle, du 25 février, 1875, relative à l'organisation des pouvoirs publics, Art. 1, § I.

2 Loi constitutionnelle du 24 février, 1875, relative à l'organisation du Senat, Art. 8.

3 Lebon, Das Staatsrecht der französichen Republik, S. 71.

disputed this power and have always expressly reserved the principle, while, in many cases, acceding to the specific changes made by the Senate.1

The regular period of mandate in the Chamber of Deputies is four years, and the change of mandates is total. In the Senate, on the other hand, the period is nine years, and the change gradual, by thirds. These two points, however, are not regulated by constitutional law, but by ordinary statutes.2 2. The Sources from which the Legislature proceeds.

The constitution provides that the Chamber of Deputies shall be chosen by universal suffrage, under the conditions and in the manner fixed by statute. There existed at the time of the establishment of the constitution a statute which defined universal suffrage to be the suffrage of all male citizens of France twenty-one years of age. This statute of 1874 is referred to and incorporated in the general statute regulating the election of the members of the Chamber of Deputies. This latter statute requires as additional qualification only a residence, for the six months immediately previous to the election, in the commune in which the person offers his vote. Neither the constitution nor the statutes prescribe any disqualifications, but an Imperial decree of February 2, 1852, is still law upon this subject. It disqualifies all persons condemned to the loss of their civil or political rights; all who have been specially forbidden by the courts to exercise the suffrage; all persons condemned for larceny, fraud, cheating, abuse of confidence, embezzlement of public money, vagabondage, mendicancy; those subject to guardianship; those declared in bankruptcy, etc.

1 Lebon, Das Staatsrecht der französichen Republik, S. 71.

2 Loi organique du 30 novembre, 1875; Loi du 9 décembre, 1884.

3 Loi constitutionnelle du 25 février, 1875, relative à l'organisation des pouvoirs publics, Art. 1, § 2.

4 Loi du 7 juillet, 1874.

5 Loi organique du 30 novembre, 1875, sur l'election des Députés, Art. 1, § 1o. 6 Ibid. Art. 1, § 2o.

The constitution makes no provision in reference to the time, place and manner of holding the elections for the members of the Chamber of Deputies, except in the case of a dissolution of the Chamber by order of the President. In that case, the constitution requires the holding of the elections within two months from the date of the dissolution.1

The constitution makes no provision whatsoever in regard to the source or sources out of which the Senate shall proceed. This subject is therefore now regulated wholly by statute. It was otherwise in the original constitution. The constitution of 1875 provided in very minute detail for the production and construction of the Senate, but an amendment of the year 1884 abolished the first seven articles of the constitutional law of 1875 relative to the organization of the Senate.2 The statute which takes the place of these constitutional provisions was enacted December 9, 1884, and ordains that the senators shall be chosen by electoral colleges in the several départements. These colleges consist of the members of the Chamber of Deputies elected from the particular département, the councilors of the département, the councilors of the arrondissements in the département, and representatives chosen from each commune in the département by the board of councilors of the commune.3 The number of representatives from each commune in the departmental college is based upon the number of councilors of the particular commune, and the number of councilors of each commune is based, in some degree, upon the population of the commune. The councilors of the départements, the arrondissements and the communes are elected by universal suffrage, as are the members of the Chamber of Deputies from the départements; so that we may say the Senate now proceeds from universal suffrage and indirect vote. This construction of the Senate

1 Loi constitutionnelle du 13 août, 1884, Art. 1, § 2. 2 Ibid. Art. 3.

3 Loi du 9 décembre, 1884, Art. 6.

4 Lebon, Das Staatsrecht der französischen Republik, S. 62, Anmerkung 3.

may, however, be changed at any time by another statute. The existence and powers of the Senate still rest upon constitutional law, but not its composition. The time, place and manner of holding the senatorial elections are also subjects of ordinary legislation and have no rightful place in a work strictly devoted to constitutional law. The statute of 1884 reserved the terms and tenures of the senators elected under the constitutional provisions previously in force;1 but this again is only a statutory reservation and may be changed by a simple legislative act at any moment.

The constitution vests in each chamber the power to determine finally questions of disputed elections and makes each chamber the only body to which the resignation of its members can be offered.2

3. The Principle of Representation.

The constitution makes no provision on this point as to either chamber. The matter is therefore regulated wholly by ordinary statute. The general principle distributes the representation in both chambers according to population, although, in both chambers, territorial considerations are taken into account. France is divided, for the purposes of administration, into 87 départements. The colonies of France are divided into 10 départements. The départements are again divided into arrondissements to the number of 573. These latter divisions contain, as nearly as is convenient, equal populations, and are the basis of the representation in the Chamber of Deputies, one deputy being chosen from each arrondissement. This is what is called in France le scrutin d'arrondissement. The whole number of deputies is 573.3 On the other hand, the statute regulating the distribution of the representation in the Senate takes the département

1 Loi du 9 décembre, 1884, Art. 1, § 2.

2 Loi constitutionnelle du 16 juillet, 1875, Art. 10.

8 Almanach de Gotha, 1890, p. 696.

4 Loi du 9 décembre, 1884, Art. 1.

for its territorial basis. The départements differ very widely from each other as to population; consequently the number of senators assigned to each département differs in somewhat the same ratio. One département elects 10 senators; one elects 8; ten départements elect 5 each; twelve elect 4 each; fifty-two elect 3 each; ten elect 2 each; eight elect I each. Four of the ten colonial départements are not represented in the Senate at all.

The voting in the electoral colleges of the départements is according to the principle of scrutin de liste or scrutin de département; i.e. each one of the electors votes for as many persons as are to be chosen at the election from the département. The fact, however, that the senatorial terms expire by thirds makes the election of but a single person necessary or possible at any one time in the majority of the départements. The number of senators is fixed by this statute at 300.

Lastly, the constitution contains no provision in regard to the question whether the members of the legislative chambers are bound by instructions from their constituents. There is a statute which declares that the members of the Chamber of Deputies are not,1 but I find no statute even which guarantees the like independence to the members of the Senate. We may say, however, that custom has established the principle of uninstructed representation in both cases. 4. The Qualifications of Members.

The constitution makes no provision whatever upon this subject. It is therefore left entirely to statutory regulation.

By statute every voter is declared to be eligible to membership in the Chamber of Deputies who shall have reached the age of twenty-five years;2 i.e. shall have completed his twenty-fifth year on or before the day of his election.

By statute, citizenship, the attainment of the fortieth year

1 Loi organique du 30 novembre, 1875, Art. 13.

2 Ibid. Art. 6.