3 - France

Summary

This chapter analyses the direct application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) by the Court of Cassation and the Council of State in France, a monist state that has not passed legislation to incorporate or transform the Convention domestically. The chapter highlights the historical contentiousness of the direct application of the Convention, the different approaches taken by the two supreme courts, and the positive impact of the direct application of the Convention once this became more widely accepted. The chapter argues that the direct application of Convention articles gives them a quasi-constitutional status, and permits their mainstreaming into decision-making. It also shows that the direct application of the Convention, and especially of its article 3(1), has added value to judicial reasoning in relation to children. The chapter demonstrates that, contrary to other views, the direct application of the Convention by courts depends to a large extent on factors independent of it rather than on its intrinsic features, such as the alleged weak remedial framework, the generality of its terms, or the formulation of its articles.