French parliament has voted in favour of a draft law that could, for the first time, make it possible to impeach a president, reports FRANCE 24.
The bill, already passed by France’s lower house, was approved by the Senate by 324 votes to 18 .
It will now go to France’s Constitutional Council, which must decide if the bill complies with the French constitution, before becoming law.
If approved, the law, would represent a radical change to the legal status of the French head of state – who has so far enjoyed greater legal protection than almost any other Western leader.
Since France’s current constitution was introduced under Charles de Gaulle in 1958, the French president has been immune from criminal prosecution during his five-year term and cannot be removed from power except in cases of high treason.
The new law would not take away the president’s criminal immunity while in office, but would give parliament the power to move for an impeachment in the event of a “breach of his duties patently incompatible with the carrying out of his mandate”.
Either the Senate or the National Assembly would be able to start the impeachment process with a two-thirds majority vote, but both houses would need to approve it for the procedure to go any further.
The case would then go to the High Court – a specially convened court comprised of members from both chambers of parliament and presided over by the president of the National Assembly.
The court would then have a month to make a decision, with two thirds again needing to vote in favour for an impeachment to be carried out.
Not all are happy with the bill, however. Members of France’s Communist Party (PCF), who voted against the law in the Senate, claim it does not go far enough.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.