French Constitution of 27 October 1946

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Constitution of the French Republic[1]
Facsimile of the 1946 Constitution
Overview
Jurisdiction	Provisional Government, Fourth Republic
Created	29 September 1946[2]
Presented	28 October 1946[3]
Date effective	24 December 1946[4][5][6]
System	Parliamentary
Government structure
Branches	Parliament, Executive
Chambers	2: National Assembly Council of the Republic
Executive	dual: President of the Republic President of the Council
History
Repealed	4 October 1958
Amendments	2
Last amended	Constitutional Law of 3 June 1958 [fr]
Supersedes	Constitutional Law of 2 November 1945 [fr]
Full text
French Constitution of 1946 at Wikisource

The Constitution of the French Republic of 27 October 1946^[1][a] was the constitution of the French Fourth Republic.

Adopted by the Constituent Assembly of 1946 ^[fr] on 29 September 1946,^[7][b][c] and promulgated by Georges Bidault, president of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, on 27 October 1946,^[3] it was published in the Official Journal of the French Republic the next day.^[1]

French Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Article 98 (in French)

The question of the effective date of the constitution is debated. Following Georges Vedel,^{[citation needed]} some authors, such as Louis Favoreu,^[8] maintain that the constitution "became effective in stages".^[9][d] Other authors, sticking to the letter of Article 98, paragraph 2 of the constitution, consider that its effective date was deferred until 24 December 1946,^[4][5][6] date of the first meeting of the Council of the Republic.^[9]

In the first instance, the constitution is that of the French Republic as the unitary state comprising the overseas departments and the overseas territories, known collectively as the DOM-TOM. But at the same time it is also that of the French Union,^[10] composed of the French Republic, the territories that it administered as agent of the League of Nations, and protectorates. The New Hebrides (present-day Vanuatu) was outside the Union.^[e]

The constitution established a rationalized parliamentary system ^[fr][f] through mechanisms of reciprocal control between the executive and legislative branches.

The constitution was revised once, by the law of 7 December 1954.^[2]

The constitution was repealed ^[fr] by the French constitution of 4 October 1958, with the exception of its preamble ^[fr], recognized as still in force by Decision 71-44 DC of the Constitutional Council in 1971.^[11]

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