The Strength and Weakness of French Administrative Law

It is often said that the French system of judicial control of the Administration is one of the best existing today. The French have no difficulty in believing this, and although Common Law jurists have long been influenced by Dicey, who wrote at a time when Administrative Law was different from that which we know today, they, also, are becoming aware of the merits of the work of the French Conseil d'Etat : Professor Hamson is in no small way responsible for this change of attitude. Moreover, the adoption of the French Administrative Law techniques by the European Communities and their introduction, albeit hesitantly, into the Law of International Organisations have also contributed towards increasing its reputation. Yet, at the very moment when it seems to have become an excellent product for export, the merits and the efficacy of French Administrative Law are causing considerable doubts among the French themselves. It has become fashionable to criticise what was unreservedly praised, and one wonders if adulation will give way to systematic denigration. The answer, not surprisingly, is to be found between the two extremes. The French system comprises elements both of strength and of weakness. This lecture is an attempt to evaluate these elements.