法國第五共和的公民投票為憲法明訂之權力。在絕大多數的情況下，總統是決定發動公投與否的憲政機關，而憲法委員會在公投實踐上則扮演著相當重要的輔佐角色。也因為公投發動機關的角色特殊，所以法國對於舉辦公投無論於事前或事後的審查機制皆僅侷限於技術性問題的爭端解決。 The French 5th republic constitution has made referendum a constitutional right. The president himself decides whether a referendum will be held or not in most cases; however, the conseil constitutionnel plays an important role in an auxiliary way. With the particularity of the mechanism of initializing a referendum, the control towards the referendum in France is somehow limited in the domain concerning the disputes due to the technical problems.
