France

===Law===
{{Main|Law of France}}
France uses a [[Civil law (legal system)|civil legal]] system, wherein law arises primarily from written statutes;<ref name=France/> judges are not to make law, but merely to interpret it (though the amount of judicial interpretation in certain areas makes it equivalent to [[case law]] in a [[common law]] system). Basic principles of the [[rule of law]] were laid in the [[Napoleonic Code]] (which was, in turn, largely based on the royal law codified under [[Louis XIV]]). In agreement with the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the law should only prohibit actions detrimental to society. As [[Guy Canivet]], first president of the [[Court of Cassation (France)|Court of Cassation]] wrote about the management of prisons: "Freedom is the rule, and its restriction is the exception; any restriction of Freedom must be provided for by Law and must follow the principles of necessity and proportionality." That is, Law should lay out prohibitions only if they are needed, and if the inconveniences caused by this restriction do not exceed the inconveniences that the prohibition is supposed to remedy.
[[File:Declaration of Human Rights.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=color drawing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen from 1789|The basic principles that the French Republic must respect are found in the 1789 [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]].]]

French law is divided into two principal areas: [[private law]] and [[public law]]. Private law includes, in particular, [[civil law (common law)|civil law]] and [[criminal law]]. Public law includes, in particular, [[administrative law]] and [[constitutional law]]. However, in practical terms, French law comprises three principal areas of law: civil law, criminal law, and administrative law. Criminal laws can only address the future and not the past (criminal ''[[Ex post facto law|ex post facto]]'' laws are prohibited).<ref>In European countries, legal doctrine has long faced the question of succession of criminal laws in time: {{Cite journal |last=Buonomo |first=Giampiero |year=2015 |title=La rivendicazione di Gallo |journal=Mondoperaio Edizione Online}}</ref> While administrative law is often a subcategory of civil law in many countries, it is completely separated in France and each body of law is headed by a specific supreme court: [[French judiciary courts|ordinary courts]] (which handle criminal and civil litigation) are headed by the [[Court of Cassation (France)|Court of Cassation]] and administrative courts are headed by the [[Conseil d'Etat (France)|Council of State]]. To be applicable, every law must be officially published in the ''[[Journal officiel de la République française]]''.

France does not recognise [[religious law]] as a motivation for the enactment of prohibitions; it has long abolished [[blasphemy]] laws and [[sodomy law]]s (the latter in 1791). However, "offences against [[Decency|public decency]]" (''contraires aux bonnes mœurs'') or [[breach of the peace|disturbing public order]] (''trouble à l'ordre public'') have been used to repress public expressions of homosexuality or street prostitution.

France generally has a positive reputation regarding [[LGBT rights in France|LGBT rights]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Country Ranking - Rainbow Europe|url=https://rainbow-europe.org/country-ranking|website=rainbow-europe.org|access-date=28 October 2021|archive-date=21 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521004552/https://rainbow-europe.org/country-ranking|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 1999, [[Pacte civil de solidarité|civil unions]] for homosexual couples have been permitted, and since 2013, [[same-sex marriage]] and [[LGBT adoption]] are legal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 May 2013 |title=François Hollande signs same-sex marriage into law |publisher=France 24 |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20130518-france-gay-marriage-law-adoption |access-date=27 June 2013}}</ref> Laws prohibiting discriminatory speech in the press are [[Law on the Freedom of the Press of 29 July 1881|as old as 1881]]. Some consider [[hate speech laws in France]] to be too broad or severe, undermining [[freedom of speech]].<ref>"France: Strict Defamation and Privacy Laws Limit Free Expression&nbsp;– Index on Censorship| Index on Censorship." France: Strict Defamation and Privacy Laws Limit Free Expression&nbsp;– Index on Censorship| Index on Censorship. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 February 2014. {{Cite web |title=France: Strict defamation and privacy laws limit free expression – Index on Censorship |url=http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2013/08/france-faces-restrictions-on-free-expression/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922214544/http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2013/08/france-faces-restrictions-on-free-expression/ |archive-date=22 September 2013 |access-date=18 February 2014}}.</ref>
France has laws against racism and [[antisemitism]],<ref>{{In lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20101205103557/http://www.ambafrance-dz.org/ambassade/IMG/Lutte_racisme_et_antisemitisme.pdf La lutte contre le racisme et l'antisémintisme en France]. AmbaFrance</ref> while the 1990 [[Gayssot Act]] prohibits [[Holocaust denial]]. In 2024, France became the first nation in the European Union to explicitly protect [[abortion]] in its [[Constitution of France|constitution]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Niewiarowski |first1=Erik |title=France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic vote |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/05/france-makes-abortion-a-constitutional-right-in-historic-vote/ |website=PinkNews |date=5 March 2024 |access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>

[[Freedom of religion in France|Freedom of religion]] is constitutionally guaranteed by the 1789 [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]]. The [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State]] is the basis for ''[[laïcité]]'' (state secularism): the state does not formally recognise any religion, [[Concordat in Alsace-Moselle|except in Alsace-Moselle]], which was part of Germany in 1905, and continues to subsidize education and clergy of Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Judaism. Nonetheless, France does recognise religious associations. The Parliament has [[Groups referred to as cults in government reports#France|listed many religious movements as dangerous cults]] since 1995 and has [[French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools|banned wearing conspicuous religious symbols in schools]] since 2004. In 2010, it banned the [[French ban on face covering|wearing of face-covering Islamic veils in public]]; human rights groups such as [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]] described the law as discriminatory towards Muslims.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Kenneth |last=Roth |date=26 February 2004 |title=Human Rights Watch |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/02/26/france7666.htm |access-date=31 January 2009 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=13 July 2010 |title=France votes to ban full-face veils |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/france-votes-ban-full-face-veils-2010-07-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207163309/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/france-votes-ban-full-face-veils-2010-07-13 |archive-date=7 December 2014}}</ref> However, it is supported by most of the population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=L'image de l'islam en France |url=http://www.ifop.com/media/poll/2028-1-study_file.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312131944/http://www.ifop.com/media/poll/2028-1-study_file.pdf |archive-date=12 March 2014 |access-date=16 January 2017 |website=ifop.fr |publisher=IFOP |page=22 |language=fr}}</ref>
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<ref name="Pew">{{Cite news |last=Dumoulin |first=Frederic |date=14 September 2010 |title=French parliament adopts ban on full-face veil |publisher=Google News |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gNCFdNZ4r-9aDEBG0G_OUSMKoASw |url-status=dead |access-date=14 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518083647/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gNCFdNZ4r-9aDEBG0G_OUSMKoASw |archive-date=18 May 2013}}</ref>-->