Conference paper
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2026.63.159.59
Non-Jurisdictional Controls of the Administration
Delphine Hédary
; Conseillère d’État
Abstract
Control of the French administration is not confined to judicial review: it extends to a broad
array of non-jurisdictional controls grounded in the constitutional principles derived from the 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen - in particular the separation of powers, the
principle of legality, and society’s right to call any public official to account for their administration.
In this respect, the 1958 Constitution enshrines the supervisory role of three institutions: Parliament,
which votes laws, oversees the action of the Government and evaluates public policies; the
Conseil d’État, whose consultative function safeguards the quality and legality of normative
output; and the Court of Audit (Cour des comptes), which controls public accounts and assesses
the effectiveness of public policies. These external controls are complemented by controls internal
to the administration, based on the hierarchical principle, the deontology of public officials and
the work of specialised services (legal departments, the Secretariat-General of the Government,
management control, inspection bodies). Finally, citizens and civil society exercise increasing
control thanks to transparency obligations: the duty to give reasons for unfavourable decisions,
access to administrative documents, and extended rights in environmental matters. These various
controls strengthen respect for legality both upstream and downstream of administrative action and
demonstrate that the constitutional obligation to control the administration is today expressed in
renewed forms.
Keywords
non-jurisdictional control; public administration; separation of powers; principle of legality; administrative transparency
Hrčak ID:
347921
URI
Publication date:
31.3.2026.
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