French law — map, debates & reform directions

The employment relationship — hiring, firing, working time and collective bargaining.

Code du travail

Pensions, health insurance and the financing of the welfare state.

Code de la sécurité sociale · Code de l'action sociale et des familles

Entry, residence, asylum and nationality — among the most contested areas.

CESEDA · Code civil (nationalité)

Offences, penalties and the procedure that decides guilt — the most politically charged area of law.

Code pénal (1994) · Code de procédure pénale · Code de la justice pénale des mineurs (2021)

Taxation of people and companies — and the perennial fairness debate.

Code général des impôts · Livre des procédures fiscales

Couples, children and parentage — where law meets fast-changing social norms.

Code civil (Livre Iᵉʳ) · Lois de bioéthique

Protecting nature and climate — rising fast in constitutional weight.

Code de l'environnement · Charte de l'environnement (2005)

Health, the body and life's boundaries — medicine meets ethics.

Code de la santé publique · Lois de bioéthique

The rules of the Fifth Republic: institutions, fundamental rights and the Conseil constitutionnel.

Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 · Bloc de constitutionnalité

The backbone of private life — persons, family, property, contracts and civil liability.

Code civil (1804)

Relations between citizens and the administration — largely judge-made law (Conseil d'État).

Code de justice administrative · Code des relations entre le public et l'administration (2016)

Business, companies, competition and insolvency.

Code de commerce · Code monétaire et financier