Why the Constitutional Council is moving to the Hérault

The Constitutional Council regularly sits outside its walls. This Wednesday afternoon it is Montpellier’s turn to host a public hearing on the priority issues of constitutionality. Marseille in 2022, Bourges in 2021 and Lyon in 2020 had already received a hearing from the Constitutional Council in the past. In 2019, three cities hosted the first of this jurisdiction in the provinces: Metz, Nantes and Pau. In the mind of its president Laurent Fabius, these transfers were supposed to be quarterly. Covid-19 has not facilitated this calendar.

Created by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic in 1958, the Constitutional Council has the task of ensuring compliance with the Constitution and as such carries out a check on the constitutionality of the laws. “It is an important institution of our Republic, but little known”, estimates Laurent Fabius, who has been its president since 2016. He has decided “to raise public awareness more about the way we defend democracy and the Republic, since our main task is to verify that new laws comply with the law. Jurisdiction usually lies at the Palais-Royal in Paris. But “judges shouldn’t be in an ivory tower,” explains Laurent Fabius.

Two priority issues of constitutionality

On Tuesday, the nine board members attended meetings with students from the Clemenceau and Jules Guède high schools in Montpellier. The public hearing this Wednesday afternoon at the Montpellier Court of Appeal will address two priority issues of constitutionality. One concerns a tax on offices in Île de France, the other on identity checks in Mayotte.

If the debates take place in Montpellier, the decisions will be made in Paris by the nine wise men. A week later, Laurent Fabius will return to the Hérault prefecture to explain them to students and professors of the law faculty. “We judge 80 priority issues a year. You should know that once out of three we cancel the law», says the former prime minister.