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7 (July 1980)

CONSTITUTIONS AND DISARMAMENT

 

Why has Mr. Valery GISCARD D'ESTAING not answered the question on disarmament posed by our Press Agency ?

A similar question to Mr. François MITTERRAND? DURING HIS PRESS CONFERENCE OF June 24 1980 has not, either, been given an answer.

The Presidency of the Republic
Press Service

PRESS CONFERENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

Thursday June 26, 1980

QUESTION. - You mentioned, in New-York, the need for disarmament control by satellite. For this control to be totally effective, on-site verification would be needed. Now, the French Constitution provides for such verification as the principle of a limitation of the sovereignty has been maintained by General de Gaulle. Do you think, Mr. President, it would be useful to work ont the implementation of this paragraph of our Constitution with other countries, such as Italy, Germany or India whose Constitutions have the same provision so as to extend it to the whole world ?

(Extract from the information service given by the Elysée, p. 19)

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Preamble of the French Constitution :

"Under provision of reciprocation, France consents to the limitations of its sovereignty necessary to the organization and defense of peace".

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Considering the dangers the human species is threatened by, after the end of the Second World War, have jurists when the wrote this preamble, not wanted to give political leaders the ability to create an active World Institution able to solve the disarmament problem ?

Indeed, regarding this world-dimensional issue, the partition of the planet into Nations-States endowed with absolute sovereignty is obsolete.

In 1946, André PHILIP, Pierre COT, Paul COSTE-FLORET and Etienne FAJON enshrine this juridical principle in the French Constitution. In 1958, René CASSIN, a future Nobel Peace Prize winner, recommends to General de Gaulle hi should keep this provision in the preamble of the Constitution.

The dangers threatening humanity are increasing in a way that requires us to think of a different political organization of the world.

It could be planned that, in the first stage, experts from each country whose Constitution includes the same clause (that is Italy, Belgium, West Germany, India, Japan and France) meet in order to request all the countries of the world tu include the same provision for limitation of sovereignty in their constitutions.

Then, instead of being a cumbersome legacy, the principle of mutual national limitation would mean for the peoples of the world the hope of entering an era of peace at last.

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