OVERVIEW OF FRENCH TREATY RATIFICATION PROCESS

UNCLAS PARIS 003955 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KTIA FR SUBJECT: OVERVIEW OF FRENCH TREATY RATIFICATION PROCESS REF: STATE 116194 ¶1. In response to reftel, Embassy surveyed the French treaty ratification process. The French treaty ratification process is complex and generally takes at least a year, although this depends heavily on the legislative calendar and may sometimes take longer. Article 53 of the French Constitution makes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Direction for Legal Affairs (DAJ),responsible for determining what agreements are subject to the formal treaty ratification process. Once DAJ has established that an agreement is subject to the Article 53 requirements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs creates draft legislation and background on the treaty. The Ministry transmits these documents to General Secretariat of the Government dealing with judicial affairs in the Prime Minister,s office. After review by the Prime Minister's officer, draft legislatio goes to the Council of State, which functions as a supreme court for administrative justice to consider the legality of the draft legislation. This review usually takes several meetings. If the Council of State decides the draft legislation is inconsistent with French law, the Prime Minister,s office can convoke a special inter-ministerial session to revisit this decision. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must then present the treaty legislation to the Council of Ministers for its approval. Finally, the legislation considered by the parliament, with the Foreign Ministry in charge of shepherding the legislation through the internal review that lead to a vote. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm Pekala