François COLCOMBET - The judicial career

Pouvoirs n°74 - Les juges - septembre 1995 - p.108-122

The magistrature, which is at once necessary and embarrassing for the political power, is strictly controlled by the latter in France. The system established by Napoleon, characterized by a strict hierarchy of jurisdictions and functions, has hardly been altered. It grants the political authorities more than the right to examine each phase of a magistrate’s career. The powers of the Conseil supérieur de la magistrature, created in 1946, have been limited by the 1958 reforms which strengthened the power of control the President of the Republic has over the judges. The inconvenients of the system have been limited only by the behavior and the good organization of the judges on the one hand, and the rather liberal approach of the Presidents on the other. A recent constitutional reform offers some hope for the future. Résumé

Référence électonique : François COLCOMBET, "The judicial career", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°74, 1995, . Consulté le 02-06-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/The-judicial-career.html