ABSTRACT
Ever since the major reforms introduced as a result of the Revolution, the French system of administrative law has been characterised by the adherence to the fundamental principle, developed by Montesquieu, of the separation of powers (la séparation des pouvoirs), under which the three constitutional authorities, ie the legislature, the judiciary and the executive (and therefore also the administration) must operate on a separate basis in order to prevent too much power from being concentrated into too few hands. It is perhaps the French administration which continues to bear the strongest evidence of the continued application of this principle.
