France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and some other civil law countries, a ( French), ( Italian) or ( Dutch) consists of a text intended for the members of a service, of an enterprise, or of an

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

. Within the French and Belgian

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, a originates from a ministry with the aim of giving an interpretation of a legal text or of a

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

, or Royal Order), with a view to applying such a regulation consistently. As such, a depends on the general principles of law, but carries more weight than mere administrative acts. provide recommendations: they apply only to employees of the civil service. In certain cases, ''circulaires'' introduce new rules (); such that under certain conditions one can appeal against

abuse of power Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an Crime, unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasan ...

. The body of

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

relating to ''circulaires'' has developed extensively. In principle, ''circulaires'' exist only to comment on existing law and to explain its application in concrete terms. The contentious side of , of and of has brought about several legal responses, varying according to several criteria and according to the type of text involved: * the regulatory nature of the text * the character of the measure of internal administration * the regulatory power of Ministers within their Departments See CE 7 February 1936, section, Jamart, Rec. 172. * Government decisions

References

{{Authority control Law of France Belgian legislation pt:Circular

See also

References