Country Report “France”

TLDR: In the French legal system, only Art. 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was applicable in France as the overall guarantee of an effective remedy of a person whose rights have been violated before a national authority as mentioned in this paper.

Abstract: Understanding “judicial protection” as the right to an effective remedy in the sense of Art. 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) rather than as a mere guarantee that deprivation of liberty shall be decided by or under the effective control of the judicial authority makes it clear that a poor textual recognition is given to judicial protection in the French legal system. The Constitution does not literally recognise the right to an effective remedy. Neither does the preliminary article of the Code of Penal Procedure (CPP), which is the reference norm providing general legal guarantees in criminal procedural law. Hence, until 2013, only Art. 13 ECHR was applicable in France as the overall guarantee of an effective remedy of a person whose rights have been violated before a national authority.