French order of precedence


The order of precedence for public ceremonies in France is established by Décret n°89-655 du 13 septembre 1989 relatif aux cérémonies publiques, préséances, honneurs civils et militaires. The original order has been modified since 1989, for example inserting the Defender of Rights after that office's 2011 creation. the order is as follows:
  1. The President of the Republic
  2. The Prime Minister
  3. The President of the Senate
  4. The President of the National Assembly
  5. Former Presidents of the Republic, in order of term
  6. #Nicolas Sarkozy
  7. #François Hollande
  8. The Government, in the order decided by the President of the Republic
  9. Former Prime Ministers, in order of term
  10. #Laurent Fabius
  11. #Édith Cresson
  12. #Édouard Balladur
  13. #Alain Juppé
  14. #Lionel Jospin
  15. #Jean-Pierre Raffarin
  16. #Dominique de Villepin
  17. #François Fillon
  18. #Jean-Marc Ayrault
  19. #Manuel Valls
  20. #Bernard Cazeneuve
  21. #Édouard Philippe
  22. #Jean Castex
  23. #Élisabeth Borne
  24. #Gabriel Attal
  25. #Michel Barnier
  26. #François Bayrou
  27. The President of the Constitutional Council
  28. The Vice President of the Conseil d'État
  29. The President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council
  30. The Defender of Rights
  31. Members of the National Assembly
  32. Senators
  33. European parliament members
  34. The judicial authority represented by the first President of the Court of Cassation and the public prosecutor of that court
  35. The first President of the Revenue Court and the public prosecutor of that court
  36. The Great Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur, chancellor of the National Order of Merit and the members of the councils of these orders
  37. The Chancellor of the Order of the Libération, and the members of the council of this order
  38. The Chief of the Defence Staff
The following then apply in Paris:
  1. The prefect of the Île-de-France ''région, prefect of Paris
  2. The prefect of police, prefect of the Paris defense zone
  3. The mayor of Paris, president of the Council of Paris
  4. The representatives to the European Parliament
  5. The chancellor of the Institute of France, the perpetual secretaries of the French Academy, the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, the Academy of Sciences, of the Académie des beaux-arts'' and of the academy of moral and political sciences
  6. The general secretary of the government; the general secretary of national defence; the general secretary of the Ministry of foreign affairs
  7. The president of the administrative court of appeal of Paris ; the first president of the Paris court of appeal and the general public prosecutor of that court
  8. The general delegate for weaponry; the general secretary for administration of the Ministry of defence; the chief of staff of the army; the chief of staff of the navy; the chief of staff of the air force; the military governor of Paris, commanding the Île-de-France army region
  9. The president of the high council of broadcasting
  10. The president of the national commission "computing and freedoms"
  11. The president of the concurrence council
  12. Universities of Paris
There are analogous orderings for local officials at events in Metropolitan France outside Paris, for Overseas France, and on naval bases. There are also provisions to allow subordinate to take the place of certain head officers, if absent. For events organised by a public body other than the national government, the body's head ranks second after the representative of the State.