A prefect in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 is the State's representative in a department or region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

. Sub-prefects (French: sous-préfets) are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, arrondissements

Arrondissements of France

The 101 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts.The capital of an arrondissement/district is called a subprefecture...

. The office of a prefect is known as a prefecture and that of a sub-prefect as a subprefecture

Sous-préfecture

Subprefectures are the administrative towns of arrondissements in France that do not contain the prefecture for its department. Subprefecture is also the name given to the building which houses the administrative headquarters for the arrondissement....

.

Prefects are appointed by a decree of the President of the Republic in the Council of Ministers, following the proposal of the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of France

The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...

 and the Minister of the Interior

Minister of the Interior (France)

The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...

. They serve at the Government's discretion and can be replaced at any meeting of the Council.

From 1982 to 1988 prefects were called commissaires de la République (the Republic's commissioners).

Roles

The main role of the prefects are defined in article 72 of the Constitution of France

Constitution of France

The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, and replaced that of the Fourth Republic dating from 1946. Charles de Gaulle was the main driving force in introducing the new constitution and inaugurating the Fifth...

:

In the local governments of the Republic, the representative of the State, representing each member of the Government, is in charge of national interests, of administrative checks, and the respect of Law.

The exact role and attributions are defined in decree

Decree

A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

s, most notably decrees of 1964, 1982, 2004, each replacing the preceding one.

The prefect of the département containing the chef-lieu de région is also the préfet de région, or the prefect of the région.

Prefects operate under the Minister of the Interior

Minister of the Interior (France)

The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...

. Their main missions include.

• representing the state to local governments;
• security
  • the coordination of police
    French National Police
    The National Police , formerly the Sûreté Nationale, is one of two national police forces and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural...
    
     and gendarmerie forces;
  • handling major crises
    Crisis
    A crisis is any event that is, or expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community or whole society...
    
    ;
  • emergency defence
    Civil defense
    Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...
    
     procedures;
• safety
  • the decision to evacuate zones facing natural disasters; the organisation of relief operations;
• responsibility for official documents, such as
  • the production of identity documents, including identity cards and passport
    Passport
    A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
    
    s;
  • the issuing of driving licences
    Driver's license
    A driver's license/licence , or driving licence is an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, car, truck or a bus, on a public roadway. Most U.S...
    
    , and their administrative withdrawal in case of certain offenses;
  • the application of immigration
    Immigration
    Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
    
     rules;
• ensuring respect for legality
  Legality
  The principle of legality is the legal ideal that requires all law to be clear, ascertainable and non-retrospective. It requires decision makers to resolve disputes by applying legal rules that have been declared beforehand, and not to alter the legal situation retrospectively by discretionary...
  
  : officials working for the prefect verify the legality of decisions made by local governments and submit doubtful cases to administrative court
  Administrative court
  Greece, as a civil law country has administrative courts. The establishment of those courts can be found in article 94 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic 1975, as revised in 2001. The administrative courts are composed from districts Courts of First Instance, district Courts of Appeal and...
  
  s or to financial auditing courts.

Prefects may issue administrative orders in areas falling within the competency of the national government, including general safety. For instance, they may prohibit the use of certain roads without special tyres

Tire

A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...

 in times of snow

Snow

Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...

. The prohibition on smoking or leaving the motor running while filling the fuel tank of a motor vehicle is another example of a matter typically decided by a prefectoral administrative order.

On official occasions, prefects wear uniform

Uniform

A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...

s.

Special cases

• In New Caledonia
  New Caledonia
  New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
  
   and French Polynesia
  French Polynesia
  French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
  
  , the roles of the prefect, with certain differences in status, are fulfilled by a high commissioner; in Wallis and Futuna
  Wallis and Futuna
  Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands , is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast,...
  
  , by a superior administrator.

• The French Southern Territories
  French Southern Territories
  The French Southern and Antarctic Lands , full name Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands , consist of:...
  
   used to be run by a superior administrator, but since 2004 are run by a prefect. The prefect, however, is not based in the territories, but in Réunion
  Réunion
  Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
  
  .

• Paris
  Paris
  Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
  
  , which is itself a department, is an exception. While it has a prefect, who is also prefect of the île-de-France
  Île-de-France (région)
  Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
  
  , region, another prefect handles law enforcement in Paris and some surrounding areas, as well many other administrative duties: the Prefect of Police
  Prefecture of Police
  The Prefecture of Police , headed by the Prefect of Police , is an agency of the Government of France which provides the police force for the city of Paris and the surrounding three suburban départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne...
  
  . In Paris, the law enforcement powers exercised in other French cities and towns by the mayor
  Mayor
  In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
  
   belong to the Prefect of Police.

• The authority of the State over the sea is exerced by the Maritime Prefect of the relevant region.