Sourcebook on French Law

The primary sources in this work include the constitution and related documents, extracts from codes, statutes and regulations, decisions of the courts - ranging from classic leading cases to everyday situations which are the typical fare of the lowest courts - and notes and commentaries by leading French academics and practitioners. respective roles of the written law and case law, interpretation of statutes and the creation of fundamental concepts and principles, the adaptation of those principles to meet new circumstances, the varied methods of statutory drafting, the features of a court decision (both laconic and collegiate), and the corresponding need for doctrinal writings in books and periodicals. The methodology is illustrated through the content of five chapters, each dealing respectively with the equivalent of constitutional law, administrative law, contract, tort and family law. Within each subject selected topics are highlighted: the wide powers of the President and the development of a Charter of Rights; judicial review of administrative action; the presumption of freedom of contract; civil liability for traffic accidents and the need for elements of no-fault liability; the grounds for divorce and the consequences of divorce for the parties and for the children.