Constitutional Council

The Firm has a long-established practice before the Constitutional Council (Conseil constitutionnel).

When the Constitutional Council reviews the constitutionality of laws before they take effect (ex ante review), the Firm drafts briefs on behalf of individuals or legal entities who wish to add their arguments to those made by parliamentarians. The Firm is also approached by parliamentarians to assist them in developing their constitutional arguments.

Moreover, since March 1, 2010, any litigant may request that the Constitutional Council review the constitutionality of a law that is already in force. A “preliminary constitutionality issue”, France’s form of judicial review, is an additional argument that litigants may raise during proceedings, in any legal field.

The Firm has long-standing expertise in preliminary constitutionality issues. Since Maître François-Henri Briard argued one of the very first preliminary constitutionality issues submitted to the Constitutional Council, the Firm has developed and researched dozens of such issues and argued many of them before the Council.

In addition, the Firm frequently represents parliamentarians in electoral disputes.