Local law in Alsace-Moselle
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The territory of the former
Alsace-Moselle has many speakers of a form of
Principles
The local law (French: droit local) in Alsace-Moselle is a legal system that operates in parallel with French law. It preserves those statutes made by the German authorities during annexation that were considered still to be beneficial in these territories following their return to France. Created in 1919, the local law preserves those French laws that were in force before 1870 and were maintained by the German government but were repealed after 1871 in France. It also maintains German laws enacted by the German Empire between 1871 and 1918, specific provisions adopted by the local authorities, and French laws that have been enacted after 1919 to be applicable only in the three concerned departments.
In 1919, a Commissioner of the Republic (Commissaire de la République), whose duty was to restart the French administration in Alsace-Moselle following German defeat in World War I, had to choose between local law and general law. These provisions were supposed to be temporary. However, two further enactments of 1 June 1924 made them permanent. These laws were extended six times between 1934 and 1951. The 1951 legislation did not have a time limit. Even at the beginning of the 21st century, for some laws in force in Alsace-Moselle, the German language text is considered the binding one, the translated French text serving only as a non-binding commentary.
Religion
Perhaps the most striking of the legal differences between interior France and Alsace-Moselle is the absence in Alsace-Moselle of a
This situation is unusual in a country like France where church and state are more strictly separated than in most other nations. There is debate over whether the second largest religion in France, Islam, should enjoy comparable status with the four official religions.[2]
Some specific provisions
In the area of work and finance, specific provisions have been made in local law for a local
Communes have to provide aid to resourceless people and they generally have more power than in the rest of France. They manage hunting rights, which are sold by auction for nine years at a time; land owners are not the owners of the game and cannot forbid hunting on their land although the hunters are responsible for game's damage.
During political elections, most election literature is written bilingually in both French and German. The land book (livre foncier) is not held by the tax directorate but by a court service. Trains run on the right of the double tracks, as they did under the administration of the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine and still do in Germany, whereas in the rest of France they normally run on the left.
Since the end of the 20th century, some of the local laws have been incorporated into general law, especially in the areas of social security, personal bankruptcy and social aid. Some others have been repealed, like the work law and the election literature, which meet now the French general law. However, working on Sundays remains restricted as of August 2009[update].
References
- ". As this sentence was considered by many to be too long, the term Alsace-Moselle was coined. However, this term has no legal status in France as a regional designation.
- ^ A Pro-Church Law Helps a Mosque – NY Times
- ^ The original German version of articles 105a to 105i of the local work law Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine dated 26 July 1900, with translation into French on page 2.