Council of the Republic (France)

Council of the Republic

Conseil de la République
Council of the Republic ; Conseil de la République
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Councils; of the Fourth Republic
	Insignia of the Council
Type
Type	Upper house of the French Parliament
History
Founded	27 October 1946
Disbanded	8 December 1958
Preceded by	Constituent Assembly; (Provisional Government)
Succeeded by	Senate; (Fifth Republic)
Leadership
President	Auguste Champetier de Ribes, MRP ; (1946–1947)
	Gaston Monnerville, RS ; (1947–1958)
Structure
Seats	320
Length of term	6 years
Elections
Voting system	Indirect universal suffrage
First election	8 December 1946
Last election	8 June 1958
Meeting place
	Salle des Séances; Luxembourg Palace; Paris, French Republic
Website
	Archives

The Council of the Republic (French: Conseil de la République, [kɔ̃sɛj d(ə) la ʁepyblik]) was the upper house of the French Parliament under the Fourth Republic, with the National Assembly being the lower house. It was established by the Constitution of 1946, dissolved by the Constitution of 1958 and replaced with the current-day Senate.

History

The constitution of the Fourth Republic, which came into force in 1946, stipulated that parliament was bicameral.^[1] The upper house was named the "Council of the Republic" (as opposed to the Senate of the Third Republic) and was granted greatly diminished powers.^[2]

Role

The council did not have the power to make laws, which was the responsibility of the National Assembly. The council was mainly consultative, and bills were only given a single reading at the council before being passed.^[2]

However, it did share responsibility should the need arose to amend the constitution in matters regarding the election of the President of the Republic.^[2] A formal notice to the council was required to declare war.^[1]

In 1954, the Constitution was amended to provided that all bills would be examined successively by the National Assembly and the Council of the Republic, essentially restoring full legislative powers to the latter.^[1]

Composition

Members of the Council were known as '"councillors" (conseiller) from 1946 to 1948, and then "senators" from 1948 onwards. The number of senators had to be between 250 and 320.^[1] Senators were elected by indirect universal suffrage: five-sixths were elected by communes and departments; the other one-sixth were elected by the National Assembly, the lower house.^[2] They served six-year terms.^[2]

President

The President was the presiding officer of the council.

Political Party: MRP Rad-Soc

Portrait		Name	Took office	Left office	Political Party
1		Auguste Champetier de Ribes	27 December 1946	6 March 1947	MRP
2		Gaston Monnerville	18 March 1947	4 October 1958	Rad-Soc

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Constitution de 1946, IVe République" (in French). Constitutional Council of France. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "La Chambre haute avant la Vème République". Vie publique (in French). Government of France. 6 May 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2011.

Notes

^ Single chamber. The Parliament of the Provisional Government was unicameral.

[constitution-2] "Constitution de 1946, IVe République" (in French). Constitutional Council of France. Retrieved 27 May 2011.

[upper-3] "La Chambre haute avant la Vème République". Vie publique (in French). Government of France. 6 May 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2011.

[1] Single chamber. The Parliament of the Provisional Government was unicameral.

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