The General Assembly is the primary legislative body of the French Empire. It is a tricameral body made up of three "colleges" - the directly elected College of Deputies, the College of Peers, which is appointed by local legislators, and the College of Officers, who are appointed by the Emperor. The General Assembly is the successor to the Grand Assembly, which was permanently disbanded in 1938 during the French Civil War.
The current President of the General Assembly is Francois Hollande, who serves as the "legislator-in-chief" of the body and is thus the effective head of the French Empire's legislative wing.
History[]
Structure[]
Duties[]
The explicit duty of the General Assembly is to legislate and create laws that reflect compromises between the deputies, peers and Assembly Officers - the idea being that the laws will represent a compromise between the interests of the citizens, the local provinces and the nation as a whole. Prior to the reign of Albert II, the General Assembly was more of a formal organization with little power, as the Emperor and Ministries made all important decisions; however, in 1978, Albert II granted the General Assembly the right to set the non-military budget and in the mid-1980s allowed them the power to legislate laws to be approved by the Imperial Office and implemented by the Ministries. These changes greatly expanded the power, influence and importance of the role of the President of the General Assembly, in particular due to the 1997 law that gave him duties not unlike a Speaker or Prime Minister in other parliamentary systems of government.
The main role of the General Assembly is reconciling a budget, due to Albert II's mindset that the Ministries required budgetary checks and balances due to the vast governmental debt accrued during the 1960's and 1970's.