Editing Preamble (section)

===France===
<!-- "Decision 71-44 DC of 16 July 1971" and "1971 Freedom of Association Decision" redirect here. -->
{{Further ill|Constitutional block|fr|Bloc de constitutionnalité}}

In [[France]], the preamble to the [[constitution of the Fifth Republic]] of 1958 was considered ancillary and therefore non-binding until a major jurisprudential reversal by the [[Constitutional Council of France|Constitutional Council]] in the {{ILL|decision of 16 July 1971|fr|Décision Liberté d'association}}.<ref>[[Decision 71-44 DC of 16 July 1971|Decision no. 71-44 DC]], known as "Liberté d'association" ("Freedom of association"): https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/en/decision/1971/7144DC.htm</ref> This decision, which began with the words "Having regard to the constitution and its preamble," effected a considerable change in French constitutional law, as the preamble and the texts it referred to, the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] of 1789 and the preamble to the [[constitution of the Fourth Republic]], took their place alongside the constitution proper as texts understood as being invested with constitutional value. The [[:fr:Charte de l'Environnement|Charter of the Environment of 2004]] was later appended to the preamble, and the Constitutional Council identified three informal categories consisting of the [[fundamental principles recognized by the laws of the Republic]], the {{ill|principles of constitutional value|fr|Principes à valeur constitutionnelle|v=sup}}, and the {{ill|objectives of constitutional value|fr|Objectif de valeur constitutionnelle|v=sup}}.