France

France

Right	Section	Contents
Freedom of Association	History	Title I of the French Constitution of 1791 guarantees the right of peaceful assembly. “Liberty to citizens to assemble peaceably and without arms in accordance with police regulations.” Though the French Constitution of 1791 protected the right to assemble, French revolutionaries considered explicitly excluding free association (Boyd 257). The French enacted a law protecting free association in 1901, and enshrined it in their constitution in 1971 (Boyd 2008, 237). References: Boyd, Richard. “THE MADISONIAN PARADOX OF FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION.” Social philosophy & policy 25, no. 2 (2008): 235–262.
Freedom of Expression	History	Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( 1789)
Freedom of Religion	History	The earliest documentation of freedom of religion in France is the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1798 (Britannica, "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen," Article 10). The Law of Secularism, passed in 1905, establishes the separation of church and state, but favors traditionally "French" religions such as Catholicism, at the expense of others, like Islam (U.S. Department of State, "FRANCE 2018 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT").
Freedom of the Press	History	The importance of press freedom was originally emphasized in Article XI of the 1789 Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen: “The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law” (Yale Law School, “Declaration of the Rights of Man – 1789” ). This clause is now contained in Article 11 of the France’s 1958 Constitution (Constitute Project, “France's Constitution of 1958 with Amendments through 2008” ).
Privacy Rights	History	The right to privacy in France is implied in Article IV of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 26 August 1789. Article IV reads, “Liberty consists of being able to do everything that does not harm anybody else: thus the exercise of the natural rights of every man has no boundaries except those that ensure to other Members of the Society the enjoyment of those same rights” (Hardt, Kiiver, Kristofertisch). The Declaration of the Rights of Man is still in force today due to the Preamble of the 1958 French Constitution. Sascha Hardt, Phillip Kiiver & Gisela Kristofertisch. ( 2019) . Comparative Constitutional Law Documents. “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen [Declaration des Driots de L’Homme et du Citoyen] of 26 August 1789” and “Constitution of the V. Republic of 4 October 1958. ”
Voting Rights and Suffrage	History	Under Article 3 of the French Constitution suffrage may be direct or indirect and will always be universal, equal and secret. (Constitute Project, “France's Constitution of 1958 with Amendments through 2008” )