Academic report warns of the vulnerabilities of French institutions facing authoritarian risk

Concentration of executive powers, lack of independence of the judiciary... France and its institutions are vulnerable to an "authoritarian shock" in the event of an illiberal majority coming to power, warn a report by academics specializing in public law published Tuesday September 22. This document, commissioned by the three elected environmentalists Léa Balage El Mariky, Mélanie Vogel and Mélissa Camara, identifies “real vulnerabilities” of French institutions, according to its authors.

To identify these vulnerabilities, the ten academics based themselves on the examples of Hungary and Poland “where autocratic parties used the weaknesses of their legal system to consolidate their power”. According to the report, these flaws are among others "the concentration of certain powers in the hands of the executive, the fragilities of our electoral framework, the insufficient protection of independent authorities", as well as "the risks weighing on the independence of the judiciary, the economic dependence of many media or even the progressive weakening of certain intermediary bodies".

“Ensure that no government can decide alone”

The authors criticize in particular article 16 of the Constitution giving "exceptional powers" to the president in the event of a serious crisis, with "uncertain jurisdictional guarantees (...)" according to them. The president's powers "could be used by an authoritarian government to sideline Parliament, or even bypass it, in order to undertake a process of democratic regression and dismantling of the rule of law," the report warns. Among the other flaws identified, the concentration of private media which "define a media landscape where a growing share of information and entertainment is controlled by a limited number of actors, which gives them a significant influence on the public space and the debate of ideas".

The authors recommend around a hundred measures to “protect the rule of law”, in particular to regulate the powers of the executive and to restore power to Parliament. They also suggest that the polls should no longer be supervised by the Ministry of the Interior, but by an independent electoral authority. The rule of law "exists to protect individuals against arbitrariness and guarantee that no government or no political majority can decide alone who has rights and who no longer has them", underline the elected officials in the preamble. “The danger lies not only in a brutal rupture”, but also “in the gradual habituation to violations of the rule of law”, they warn.