The French concept of the rule of law

Abstract

In this article, my aim is to present the French understanding of the idea of the rule of law, for
which I call upon the ideas of the two best-known French thinkers Jean-Jacques Rousseau and
Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu. In my previous writings, I have already dealt with the
German and Anglo-Saxon aspects of the rule of law, although all three concepts undoubtedly
aim at a state striving for justice, there are differences in emphasis in terms of what is
highlighted as the essential element of the rule of law. The Germans emphasized freedoms and
the development of the individual within the framework of the state, the English emphasized
judicial legislation (legal interpretation) and freedoms, while the French approach, based on the
doctrine of the separation of powers, emphasizes the control of the government and the need
for administrative jurisprudence.