The Constitutional Council can:
Examine your complaint about a legal provision that infringes on rights and freedoms protected by the Constitution
This means that you can only complain about a legal provision during an ongoing proceeding you are involved in if you believe that it infringes on rights and freedoms of constitutional value.
If your application is accepted, the Council will determine whether the legal provision you are challenging is in accordance with the Constitution or not. If the Council concludes that the provision is unconstitutional, it will declare that the legal provision has lost its force. The Council can decide whether the provision will no longer be in force from the day of the judgement onwards or from a later date.
The Constitutional Council cannot:
The Constitutional Council can only carry out those tasks which it is allowed to do under the Constitution. It has very specific functions and it does not have the same power to review specific disputes as higher courts in France. Therefore, it cannot:
- examine complaints about the actions of private companies and persons
- revoke or change decisions of courts or state institutions
- re-examine the evidence of national court cases
- punish state officials or private individuals
- grant compensation to you due to violations of your human rights