French order of precedence

The French order of precedence is a symbolic hierarchy of officials in the Government of France used to direct protocol.

The current order of precedence was established by presidential decree number 89-655 of September 13, 1989.

The President of the Republic (Jacques Chirac)
The Prime Minister (Dominique de Villepin)
The President of the Senate (Christian Poncelet)
The President of the National Assembly (Jean-Louis Debré)
Former Presidents of the Republic, in the order of their assumption of duties (Valéry Giscard d'Estaing)
The Government (Ministers forming the Government), in the order decided by the President of the Republic
Former Presidents of the Council (of ministers, see Fourth Republic) and former Prime Ministers
The President of the Constitutional Council
The Vice President of the Conseil d'État
The President of the Economic and Social Council
Members of the National Assembly
Senators
The judicial authority represented by the first President of the Court of Cassation and the public prosecutor of that court
The first President of the Revenue Court (Cour des Comptes) and the public prosecutor of that court
The Great Chancellor of the Légion d'honneur, the chancellor of the National Order of Merit, and the members of the councils of these orders
The Chancellor of the Order of the Libération, and the members of the council of this order
The Chief of Staff of the Armies
The Ombudsman of the Republic

The following then apply in Paris

The prefect of the Île-de-France région, prefect of Paris
The prefect of police, prefect of the Paris defense zone
The mayor of Paris, president of the Council of Paris
The representatives to the European Parliament
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
The general secretary of the government; the general secretary of national defense; the general secretary of the Ministry of foreign affairs
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
The general delegate for weaponry; the general secretary for administration of the Ministry of defense; 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
The president of the high council of broadcasting
The president of the national commission "computing and freedoms"
The president of the concurrence council
The rector of the Paris academy, chancellor of the universities of Paris