1958 · Constitutions
Constitution of the French Fifth Republic
France
The constitution of France since 1958, which set up a strong president alongside a prime minister and parliament, and a Constitutional Council.
Why it matters
It created the 'semi-presidential' model that was copied in Portugal, Russia and many former French colonies in Africa.
Built on
Went on to shape
Counting texts that borrowed from the texts that borrowed from this one, 2 later texts on this timeline trace back to it.
Countries in the Legal Families Atlas
TheLawToKnow Tools’s timeline lists links of influence only where the borrowing is widely documented. Historians sometimes disagree about how much one text shaped another. It is an educational overview, not legal advice.
