The Constitutional Council's role in exercising control over the conformity of laws to the constitutional norm is debated, with some arguing it preserves democracy and others seeing it as antidemocratic.
Extract
[...] The Constitutional Council is therefore forced to rely on principles. Thus, in certain cases, it is a matter of fundamental principles recognized by the laws of the Republic, namely the III Republic but there are also principles particularly necessary for our time and principles and constitutional value objectives that do not relate to any text. The Council has the power to prevent a law that would be contrary to the Constitution from being applied. In doing so, it goes against what a majority of deputies have decided, often elaborated by the Government. [...]
[...] The creation, in 1958, of the Constitutional Council did not completely go unnoticed. Establishing an organ that can assess the conformity of the law to the Constitution is unprecedented under the V Republic. But this role does not seem primary at the time. The constitutionalists did not imagine, at the creation of the Constitutional Council, the place that it would take in our institutions. Conceived essentially to ensure that the legislative Gulliver remains locked within the barriers of Article 34 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Council, which is the subject of Title VII of the Constitution, was initially thought of as a regulator of the new relationships between institutions, as the 'guard dog of the executive'. [...]
[...] The Constitutional Council embodies today, what the Dean Vedel calls 'the Government of the Constitution'. The Constitutional Council constantly pronounces itself on the texts transmitted to it, hesitating not to censor laws voted by Parliament. This questioning of the work of national representation frequently raises protests. If the authors of the appeal rejoice when the Constitutional Council gives them right, the parliamentary majority is indignant and protests. It does so all the more when the censored text is considered essential in the policy led by the Government. [...]
[...] Either one considers a regime where the only legitimate decision is the expression of the will of a political majority designated by the voters, and in this case, the control of constitutionality exercised by the Constitutional Council constitutes an anomaly. Democracy is said representative. Or one considers a regime where the legitimate decision is the result of an exchange of arguments on its object and in this case, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms is an integral part of the democratic process. The Constitutional Council is an essential element of our democracy. Democracy is then said continue. [...]
[...] The Constitutional Council may appear as an antidemocratic counterpower But the control of constitutionality is actually in the service of democracy. As bold as these decisions may be, they do not make the Constitutional Council a ruler (II). An antidemocratic counterpower The Constitutional Council is often presented as an antidemocratic counterpower, both because it is a political organ by nature and because it is a censor of legislative work An organ of political essence For many years, the doctrine had questioned whether, due to its composition and mode of operation, the Constitutional Council should be regarded as a political organ or as a judicial organ. [...]
