Re: CHAT: national identity

Dans un courrier dat=E9 du 18/05/99 12:03:00  , Christophe a =E9crit :

> Contrary to what seems to
>  think Mathias, our parliament really has powers. It can have the Prime
>  Minister (our chief of government, the President is the chief of state)
>  fired, and already did.=20
A few points for citizens of Common Law countries :
1. Pdt appoints and dismisses Prime Minister without even asking the=20
Parliament to approve of this.
2. Pdt can appoint a Prime Minister who is not a PM (like R. Barre for=20
instance)
3. Pdt can dissolve the Plmnt once a year.
4. Plmt cannot fire the Pdt (of course).
Altogether very normal thing in France, Christophe ;-)

As for the President and the Prime Minister, it is
>  true that they have many powers, but I think they are well balanced by th=
e
>  Parliament.
May I suggest that you read the Constitution (specifically art. 34, 37 and=20
39), the rules about "l'ordre du jour", the famous court decisions founding=20
the incredible "pouvoir r=E8glementaire du Pdt", and many other technical=20
decree rules that French ignore and makes the Plmtary life look so gentle.=20
Tell me which democratic country endows one person with such a power ?=20

 As for the fact that the Minister of the Interior rules the
>  courts, it is true, but it is changing (slowly, but really).=20
I'm very angry here. There is no judiciary power in France. The courts are=20
ruled by a ministry next to the one in charge of the police. The law is=20
WRITTEN that way and it's a shame and I'm not going - as a lawyer - to ever=20
accept the very French idea that the written law is bad but doesn't count=20
because the almighty ruler is so good that he cares not using it so and=20
everybody is happy. And what about the administrative courts : tell me in=20
which democratic country the State has its own courts where al litigations=20
implying the State are tried before and special courts run by the State wher=
e=20
its own employees are pretending to hold decisions against their own bosses =
?=20
Did you ever plead before these courts ? (and BTW did you ever plead before =
a=20
commercial court ? Ever heard of the recent report about commercial justices=20
in France ?). However better the decisions held recently, the system is such=20
and is undemocratic. Unlike French I think that these are as serious issues.

The real
>  problem in politics comes from the oldness of most politicians in France
>  (see the Senate which is a real old people's home!).
Maybe for you because you are 22.
I tell you the problem all foreign constitutional lawyers point out : the=20
President holds the executive, the legislative and the judiciary powers.=20
Checks and balances are mere construction ingeneering terms over here. And N=
O=20
French lawyer will blame that because this would be considered attacking=20
Civil Law as opposed to Common Law. Un point c'est tout. It may be the way=20
France has been ruled for centuries, but I don't care : it has to change.

Another issue : maybe America has many people in jail but in France a quarte=
r=20
of prisoners have not even been tried. France is granted every year the titl=
e=20
of champion of section 6-infringement. Many of them are innocent but they=20
hardly get compensation from the State because they have to claim for it=20
before... the administrative State courts. (the best compensation recently=20
recorded : 6 months in jail for nothing =3D US$ 12.000 FF). That's the truth=20
and I can't believe nobody cares here.

And another issue : competition law and monopolies in France. That's my=20
working field. Nobody cares here. Capital privatisation is nothing. Look=20
who's at the rudder and what grasp the State holds on them.

I stop that thread here and go back to conlanging.

Mathias