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9 - ‘(A-)Religious & Democratic’ Militant Dual Constitutional Identities and the Turn to Illiberalism

The Case of France

from Part II - Comparative Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2024

By
Eugénie Mérieau
Edited by
Ran Hirschl  and
Yaniv Roznai
Ran Hirschl
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Yaniv Roznai
Affiliation:
Reichman University, Israel
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Summary

Using the case of France, this paper seeks to expand Gary Jacobsohn’s concept of “dual constitutional identity” by examining the tensions between the democratic component and the religious component of dual constitutional identities. I argue that constitutional identities are protected by a common set of mechanisms derived from militant democracy: bans/dissolution of political parties, eternity clauses and states of emergency. In the case of dual constitutional identities, militant democracy is used as a tool to protect the state religion from real or imagined threats from religious minorities – doing so in the name of democracy rather than in the name of religion. The democratic trajectory of France illuminates how constitutional identities tying a religious (or secular) identity to democratic principles and giving their courts the tools of militant democracy to police constitutional faith may in fact threaten the very foundations of democracy.

Keywords

FranceIlliberal DemocracyLaïcitéSecularismMilitant DemocracyConstitutional Identity
Type
Chapter
Information
Deciphering the Genome of Constitutionalism
The Foundations and Future of Constitutional Identity
 , pp. 113 - 124
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

References

Albert, Richard. 2013. ‘The Expressive Function of Constitutional Amendment Rule’. McGill Law Journal 59: 225–281.Google Scholar
The Economist 2022. www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2022/Google Scholar
Hennette-Vauchez, Stéphanie. 2018. ‘The State of Emergency in France: Days Without End?’ European Constitutional Law Review 14: 700–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschl, Ran. 2005. ‘The Question of Case Selection in Comparative Constitutional Law’. The American Journal of Comparative Law 53: 125–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobsohn, Gary. 2006. ‘Constitutional Identity’. The Review of Politics 68: 361–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mérieau, Eugénie. 2019. ‘French Authoritarian Constitutionalism and Its Legacy’. In Authoritarian Constitutionalism: Comparative Analysis and Critique, edited by Frankenberg, Günter and Helena Alviar, Garcia, 185–208. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Roznai, Yaniv. 2017. Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments, The Limits of Amendment Powers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Weill, Rivka. 2017. ‘On the Nexus of Eternity Clauses, Proportional Representation, and Banned Political Parties’. Election Law Journal 16: 237–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Cases and Legislation

Constitutional Council, Decision n° 71-44 DC, 16 July 1971, Loi complétant les dispositions des articles 5 et 7 de la loi du 1er juillet 1901 relative au contrat d’association.Google Scholar
Constitutional Council, Decision n° 82-141 DC, 27 July 1982, Loi sur la communication audiovisuelle.Google Scholar
Constitutional Council, Decision, n° 2006-540 DC, 27 July 2006, Loi relative au droit d’auteur et aux droits voisins dans la société de l’information.Google Scholar
Constitutional Council, Decision n° 2010-613 DC, 7 October 2010, Loi interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l’espace public.Google Scholar
Constitutional Council, Decision n° 2021-822 DC, 30 July 2021, Loi relative à la prévention d’actes de terrorisme et au renseignement.Google Scholar
Constitutional Council, Decision n° 2021-823 DC, 13 August 2021, Loi confortant le respect des principes de la République.Google Scholar
Constitutional Council, Décision n° 2021-940 QPC, 15 October 2021 Société Air France Council of State, ord. n° 402742, 26 August 2016.Google Scholar
Council of State, ord. n° 464648, 21 June 2022.Google Scholar
Loi du 1er juillet 1901 relative au contrat d’association, JORF 2 July 1901.Google Scholar
Loi n° 2004-228 du 15 mars 2004 encadrant, en application du principe de laïcité, le port de signes ou de tenues manifestant une appartenance religieuse dans les écoles, collèges et lycées publics, JORF 16 March 2004.Google Scholar
Loi n° 2010-1192 du 11 octobre 2010 interdisant la dissimulation du visage dans l’espace public, JORF 12 October 2010.Google Scholar
Loi n° 2017-510 du 30 octobre 2017 renforçant la sécurité intérieure et la lutte contre le terrorisme, JORF 31 October 2017.Google Scholar
Loi n° 2021-1109 du 24 août 2021 confortant le respect des principes de la République, JORF 25 August 2021.Google Scholar

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