Evolution of the Constitutional Council of the French Republic as a guarantor of constitutional rights

The article examines the evolution of the Constitutional Council of the French Republic from an institution primarily intended to safeguard the constitutional distribution of powers into one of the key guarantors of constitutional rights and freedoms. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of its constitutional and legal nature, the gradual expansion of the scope of constitutional review, and the decisive role of the Constitutional Council’s case law in shaping the contemporary French model of constitutional justice. The study analyses the principal stages in the development of the Constitutional Council. It demonstrates that the Council initially exercised predominantly a priori constitutional review aimed at ensuring compliance with the constitutional allocation of legislative powers and preserving the institutional balance established by the Constitution of 1958. A turning point occurred with the Freedom of Association decision of 16 July 1971, which recognised the normative force of the bloc of constitutionality and introduced a substantive approach to constitutional review centred on the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. The article further examines the constitutional reform of 1974, which broadened access to constitutional review by extending the right of referral to members of the parliamentary opposition, as well as the IVG decision of 1975, which clarified the distinction between constitutional review and the review of legislation for compatibility with international treaties. Special attention is devoted to the constitutional reform of 2008, which introduced the Priority Preliminary Ruling on Constitutionality (Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité, QPC). The article analyses the role of the Conseil d’État and the Court of Cassation as procedural filters, as well as the significance of the seriousness criterion in ensuring the consistency and effectiveness of constitutional review. The study concludes that the effectiveness of the French model of constitutional review results primarily from the progressive development of the Constitutional Council’s case law, which transformed the institution from an institutional arbiter into a body ensuring the practical and effective protection of constitutional rights and freedoms. The French experience illustrates that the evolution of constitutional justice is determined not only by constitutional amendments but also by the dynamic interpretation of constitutional norms through judicial practice.