Editing Metz (section)

=== Local law ===
{{Main|Local law in Alsace-Moselle}}
The ''local law'' ({{Langx|fr|droit local}}) applied in Metz is a legal system that operates in parallel with [[French law]]. Created in 1919, it preserves the French laws applied in France before 1870 and maintained by the Germans during the annexation of [[Alsace-Lorraine]], but repealed in the rest of France after 1871. It also maintains German laws enacted by the [[German Empire]] between 1871 and 1918, specific provisions adopted by the local authorities, and French laws that have been enacted after 1919 to be applicable only in Alsace-Lorraine. This specific local legislation encompasses different areas including religion, social work and finance.

The most striking of the legal differences between France and Alsace-Lorraine is the absence in Alsace-Lorraine of strict [[secularism]], even though a constitutional right of [[freedom of religion]] is guaranteed by the French government. Alsace-Lorraine is still governed by a pre-[[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State|1905 law]] established by the [[Concordat of 1801]], which provides for the public subsidy of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], [[Lutheran Church|Lutheran]] and [[Calvinist Church|Calvinist]] churches and the [[Judaism|Jewish]] religion.