States of emergency in France

Abstract

In recent decades there have been numerous examples of countries facing the horror of terror. After the terrorist attacks in Paris of 13 November 2015, France was forced to implement a state of emergency. Under the conditions of a state of emergency for a limited period of time, a number of fundamental rights and their guarantees may be limited more than it is allowable where the governmental authorities function normally; the distribution of competencies among the separate governmental bodies may also undergo changes. In France, the implementation of a state of emergency has caused serious debate. This requires that an analysis be made of the legal nature of the state of emergency. The article presents various states of emergency in France and an analysis of the legal nature of the state of emergency as a legally established regime of the governmental authorities’ functioning, and not a regime of suspension of law.