Organic law

In France a organic law is a Loi specifying the organization of the public authorities. It thus specifies the Constitution.

An organic law is, in the Hiérarchie of the standards, placed under the Constitution but at the top of the ordinary laws, in the Bloc of conventionnality.

The Constitution of the Fifth Republic limitativement enumerates the subjects to which an organic law can relate.

Some hang up again the Finance law (art 47 of the constitution) and the finance law of the social security (article 47-1 of the constitution) to the organic laws. If one defines the organic laws as being laws envisaged by the constitution and subjected to special procedures for their coming into effect and their modification, that is not false. However, that is an error if one refers in article 46 of the Constitution which envisages a particular procedure for the organic laws, procedure to which return articles 47 and 47-1 relating to the finance laws and of financing of the social security, while adding to it of other constraints. Another proof of this distinction is that there exists an organic law concerning with the finance laws, today LOLF.

Article 46 lays out: " The laws on which the Constitution gives the character of organic laws are voted and amended under the following conditions.

The project or the proposal is submitted to the deliberation and the vote of the first assembly seized only with the expiry of a fifteen days deadline after its deposit.

The procedure of article 45 is applicable. However, for lack of agreement between the two assemblies, the text can be adopted by the National Assembly in last reading only in the majority absolute of its members.

The organic law concerning with the Senate must be voted in the same terms by the two assemblies.

The organic laws can be promulgated only after the declaration by the Constitutional council of their conformity in Constitution."

Several of them relate to the particular constitutional statute of DOM-TOM (today and since 2003 " DROM-COM"). The Constitution currently envisages (in 2005) about thirty such organic laws.

The organic laws are voted by the Parlement same manner as an ordinary law, within the limits of article 46, in particular the sasine of the French Constitutional council which is obligatory, but also the limits aiming at a larger respect of the Bicaméralisme.

The organic laws authorize a drafting “with holes” of the Constitution which contributes to its perenniality. Indeed, when a constitutional provision is likely to change with time, an organic law is thus designed to delegate to the Parliament the power to modify it. In this direction, an organic law is with the Constitution what a Decree on enforcement of a law is with a law.

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