The President of the Constitutional Council lectured Emmanuel Macron on the passage of the immigration law, during his wishes to the President of the Republic for the new year.
Laurent Fabius wanted to send a message to Emmanuel Macron for the new year. The President of the Constitutional Council, former Prime Minister (1984-1986) and former Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012-2016) called the Head of State to order, during his closed-door greetings to the President. Laurent Fabius criticized Emmanuel Macron for the way in which the executive had the immigration law adopted. The President of the Republic, like Gérald Darmanin and Élisabeth Borne, recognized that the text contained elements contrary to the Constitution. The President of the Constitutional Council wanted to remind Emmanuel Macron that the Council “was neither an echo chamber of public opinion trends, nor a chamber of appeal for Parliament’s choices, but the judge of the constitutionality of laws, and I added that this simple definition was probably not or not yet integrated by everyone.
The basics of the rule of law
As an assessment of 2023, Laurent Fabius said he and his colleagues were “struck” by “the confusion among some between law and politics”. He wanted to remind us, quoting his “predecessor and friend Robert Badinter” that “an unconstitutional law is necessarily bad, but a bad law is not necessarily unconstitutional.” The President of the Constitutional Council explained the bases of a “rule of law” to Emmanuel Macron and focused on one aspect in particular: a law should not be passed if we are aware that certain of its provisions are contrary to the fundamental law.