00:00The Prince-Napoleon ruling, issued by the Council of State on February 19, 1875, is a major legal decision.
00:06French administrative law, which marked the abandonment of the "political motive" theory to characterize an act of
00:11government.
00:12The facts and the decision
00:13The dispute involved Prince-Napoleon Jérôme Bonaparte contesting his removal from the list of general officers, a divisional general, in
00:21the military yearbook of 1873 by the Minister of War.
00:24The solution was that the Council of State recognized its competence to examine the legality of this administrative decision, rejecting the
00:31'the idea that an act taken for political reasons was by its very nature beyond his control.
00:34However, he rejected the Prince's request on its merits, ruling that his military rank was revocable under the law.
00:40of that era.
00:41The scope of the ruling
00:42Abandonment of the political motive
00:44Before 1875, an act motivated by political considerations was immune from any jurisdictional control.
00:50The ruling puts an end to this immunity based on the administration's intention.
00:54Redefining the act of government
00:56The category of acts of government, which still escapes judicial control, has been considerably restricted.
01:02Since this decision, only acts relating to the relationship between constitutional public authorities and those linked to the
01:09conduct of international relations.
01:11The category of acts of government
