States of emergency in France

States of emergency in France (French: état d'urgence) are dispositions to grant special powers to the executive branch in case of exceptional circumstances. A state of emergency was declared following the November 2015 Paris attacks, which expired, after five extensions, in November 2017.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Four main provisions concern various kinds of "states of emergency" in France: two of those stem from the Constitution of France, and the other two from a statute:

• Article 16 of the Constitution provides the President of France with "exceptional powers" (Pouvoirs exceptionnels) in times of acute crisis.
• Article 36 of the same constitution regulates "state of siege" (état de siège).
• The Act of 3 April 1955 allows the president to declare a "state of emergency".^[6]
• The Act of 23 March 2020 allows the declaration of a "sanitary state of emergency", which allows the Prime Minister of France to take measures to protect public health during an epidemic, pandemic or health disaster endangering the country.

There are distinctions between article 16, article 36, and the 1955 Act, which concern mainly the distribution of powers. These dispositions have been used at various times, in 1955, 1958, 1961, 1988, 2005, 2015 and 2017.