Today, the Conseil d'État dismissed an appeal by the President of the National Rally political group contesting the elections of the President of the National Assembly and members of the Bureau that took place on 18 and 19 July 2024. The Conseil d'État pointed out that the National Assembly's appointment of its President and the members of its Bureau relates to the exercise of national sovereignty by French members of parliament. Consequently, in accordance with the principle of the separation of powers, the administrative judge cannot rule on these elections.
On 18 July 2024, the deputies of the 17th legislative term of the National Assembly elected their president in accordance with article 9 of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure. On 19 July, following a meeting of the presidents of the political groups, the deputies elected the members of the Bureau of the National Assembly in accordance with article 10 of the Rules of Procedure. The President of the National Rally group, Marine Le Pen, contested these two elections before the Conseil d'État.
The Conseil d'État pointed out that the National Assembly's appointment of its President and the members of its Bureau falls within the exercise of national sovereignty by the members of parliament. By virtue of the constitutional principle of the separation of powers, it is, therefore, not for the administrative courts to rule on disputes relating to such appointments, even if no other court has the power to do so.
The Conseil d'État also ruled that there was no need to refer these appeals to the Tribunal of Conflicts, whose role is to resolve jurisdictional disputes between judicial and administrative courts, since the case does not fall within the jurisdiction of the judicial courts.
Read the decision (in French)