CFE Exemption for Lawyers: Omission of the Training Requirement Through the CRFPA

The Constitutional Council struck down the requirement that, in order to qualify for the CFE exemption for their first two years of practice, lawyers had to have completed training through the CRFPA.

He notes that this exemption was intended to reduce the burden on lawyers who lacked sufficient experience and that the training requirement—which was designed to exclude lawyers who already had such experience and who entered the profession through an exceptional route—did not, in and of itself, violate the principles of equality before the law and public burdens.

However, it finds that this requirement results in lawyers with no prior experience being excluded from the exemption when they completed their training or were admitted to the bar abroad, which undermines the principles mentioned above.

Noting that the ruling would result in the exemption being extended to all attorneys who might set up practice in the future, it postpones the repeal of the provisions until October 31, 2027, to allow the legislature to “draw conclusions from the declaration that the contested provisions are unconstitutional.”

Finally, it rules that“in order to preserve the practical effect of this decision on the resolution of pending or future cases, it is incumbent upon the courts before which such cases are pending to stay proceedings until the new law enters into force or, at the latest, until October 31, 2027, in pending or future proceedings whose outcome depends on the application of the provisions declared unconstitutional”.

Constitutional Council, July 31, 2026, No. 2026-1216 QPC

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