Law of France

French law comprises three principal areas of law: civil law ("droit civil"); criminal law ("droit pénal") and administrative law ("droit administratif"). The announcement in November 2005 by the European Commission (the "Commission") that, on the basis of powers recognised in a recent European Court of Justice ("ECJ") ruling, it intends to create a dozen or so European Union ("EU") criminal offences suggests that one should also now consider EU law ("droit communautaire" or "droit européen") as a fourth area of law in France, and not simply a group of rules which influence the content of France's civil, criminal and administrative law.