French Court System and Separation of Powers

📋 Course Outline

1. Separation of Powers and Courts
2. French Dual Court System
3. Birth of Administrative Justice
4. Benefits and Conflicts of Duality
5. Courts as Constitutional Authority
6. Judicial Independence and Pressures

📖 1. Separation of Powers and Courts

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Separation of powers : Montesquieu, l’Esprit des Lois, 1748 — the principle that executing law, creating law, and applying law should be performed by three distinct and independent institutions.

📝 Essential Points

• The American Constitution is built on the principles of separation of powers.

💡 Memory Hook

E-C-A: execute, create, apply law

📖 2. French Dual Court System

📝 Essential Points

📌 The judicial court system settles private disputes between individuals and judges and punishes people who commit criminal offences, whereas the administrative court system settles disputes between the administration and individuals, including natural and legal persons.

• The judicial court system and the administrative court system each have their own hierarchy, supreme court, and personnel, and a judge from one system cannot serve as a judge in the other.