Legislation
The French Parliament (Parlement) has the power to enact laws in the following areas: civil rights, nationality, status, capacity of persons, crimes and criminal procedure, currency, inheritance, and taxation. The power to regulate all other subjects rests with the executive.
The Journal Officiel (Official Journal) publishes laws and executive regulations. Laws are effective upon their publication in the Journal.
Older issues of the Journal Officiel are available at the Wilson Library: Journal officiel de la Republique francaise. Lois et decrets (Paris: s.n.) (coverage 1946-1988).
See also the collection of translated statutes and cases at The University of Texas's Institute for Transnational Law.
Constitution
France has had many constitutions and amendments to its constitutions. French constitutional law includes the following documents, which combine to form the current French Constitution: The 1958 Constitution; including its Preamble (which refers to the Rights of Man and the principle of national sovereignty expressed in the 1789 Declaration); and the Preamble to the 1946 Constitution. [Links are to English translations, where available.]
The translated text of the constitution can be found in Constitutions of the Countries of the World (hardcopy: K3157.A2 B58) and in HeinOnline’s World Constitutions Illustrated.