States of emergency in France
States of emergency in France (French: état d'urgence) are dispositions to grant special powers to the executive branch in case of exceptional circumstances. A state of emergency was declared following the November 2015 Paris attacks, due to expire, after five extensions, in November 2017.
Three main provisions concern various kinds of "states of emergency" in France: two of those provisions stem from the Constitution of 1958, and the third from a statute:
There are distinctions between article 16, article 36 and the 1955 Act, which concerns mainly the distribution of powers. These dispositions have been used at various times, in 1955, 1958, 1961, 1988, 2005, and 2015-2017.
The French Constitution, adopted in October 1958, was drafted with both the experience of the difficulties experienced by the executive in 1940 during the Battle of France and taking into account the contemporary state of affairs, namely the Algerian war.
Article 16 of the Constitution gives the President "extraordinary powers" in exceptional cases, leading to an effective "state of exception":
When the institutions of the Republic, the independence of the nation, the integrity of its territory, or the fulfillment of its international commitments are under grave and immediate threat and when the proper functioning of the constitutional governmental authorities is interrupted, the President of the Republic shall take the measures demanded by these circumstances after official consultation with the Prime Minister, the presidents of the Assemblies, and the Constitutional Council.
He shall inform the nation of these measures by a message.
These measures must be prompted by a will to ensure within the shortest possible time that the constitutional governmental authorities have the means of fulfilling their duties. The Constitutional Council shall be consulted with regard to such measures.
Parliament shall meet ipso jure.
The National Assembly may not be dissolved during the exercise of emergency powers.
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