Friday, January 2, 2015

The Legion of Honour in 5 questions – The World

Le Monde | • Updated | By

Thomas Piketty, economist at the National Assembly, on 13 March.

The economist Thomas Piketty broke Thursday 1 st January the routine of traditional promotion beginning of the year the Legion of Honour by refusing his appointment as a knight, saying not “The role of a government to decide who is honorable” .

A refusal by no means new, has again placed the institution Bicentennial under the spotlight … and questions

Read the summary. Modiano, and Tirole Mimie Mathy in promoting the Legion of Honor

No, as already explained Rue89 in 2009: it is impossible to be a candidate for a degree of the Legion of Honour. This is a third party who must provide your name.

  • Or a minister, which usually receives proposals prefects, elected or associations (this is the case for Thomas Piketty, whose name was proposed by Geneviève Fioraso, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research)

  • Either 50 citizens, through the citizens’ initiative procedure introduced in 2008

Through these procedures, nearly 4000 cases are made each year and then reviewed by the Council of the Order of the Legion of Honour, which then selects some 3000 winners before the final approval of the president, who signed the decrees of his hand.

Join the discussion: Should we necessarily accept the Legion of Honor

2 . Can we refuse?

Yes. In general, to avoid a diplomatic incident, decorated potentials are notified in advance. This was not the case for Thomas Piketty, which has not been notified, as indicated by the rue de Grenelle. Its name therefore appears in the decrees published the 1 st January Official Journal

Read also our decryption. Therefore, the Piketty book is a success in the US

It is not so far awarded against his will. To enter officially in the order of the Legion of Honour, it must indeed be physically hand decoration. – A ceremony in which the economist should refuse to participate

View portfolio: As Thomas Piketty, they refused the Legion of Honor

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3 . By what criteria can we get it?

The Order of the Legion says in its code that the reward decoration “eminent merits acquired in service of the nation either civil basis or under arms “, recognizing that there is no strict definition or exhaustive list of such merits. “This is the Bar Council’s mission to judge, from career elements given to him by law and jurisprudence” , says the institution.

To be decorated, it is better in any case have French nationality (foreigners can be distinguished if they have rendered service to France or hold important positions, but are not full members of the institution), accumulate at least twenty years of activity (except in exceptional cases, such as sports or military exploit), have a clean criminal record and “good moral character” (an investigation is being conducted on this plan before each assignment).

Contrary to popular belief, there is less of Legionnaires before. Created by Napoleon in 1802, the Order has seen the number of its members explode with the great military conflicts of the XX th century. It has experienced up to 300 000 members in 1962. As told the magazine in 2012 Charles de Gaulle then decided to take action to prevent the decoration is hackneyed. A quota of 125 000 live legionnaires is then fixed and a new design (the National Order of Merit) is created as a consolation prize.

The number of legionnaires life is nearly stable for ten years: it now is around 92,000

4 .. What advantages does it give?

First, one can of course be decorating the red ribbon in his buttonhole, like 92,000 other decorated and reveal his rank after signing in official papers.

Then you can join the company of the members of the Legion of Honour, a network of 55 000 members that provides mission is “to contribute prestige of the National Order of the Legion of Honour and contribute to the promotion of the values ​​and culture of France in the country and abroad “.

Unlike some rumors, the Legion of Honour does not make money, instead. As Francetvinfo recalls decorated must pay since 2003 Chancery Rights (20.28 euros for a simple knight to 101.38 euros for the Grand Cross) for the shipment of their degree. They must also buy their decoration from a specialist jeweler or coin Paris (75 euros for the reduced model, 180 euros for the standard design and up to 990 euros for the Grand Cross of plate).

Catalogue of decorations Monnaie de Paris.

What quickly engulf the lean treatment offered by the institution to its members. The “History symbolic heritage sum” – from 6.10 euros a year for the knights and 36.59 euros for the Grand Cross – is often not even claimed by the embellished ( or donated to support the company of members of the Legion of Honour, to help the legionaries in need, says Express ).

Enter the family the Legion of Honour also opens right to your female descendants (to the rear granddaughters) of APPLY in prestigious educational institution houses: Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines) for college and Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) for high school and post-bac (BTS and preparatory classes). But acceptance is not automatic: in 2011, only 55 seats were available at the high school in Saint-Denis, nearly 400 applications, as reported in The Etudiant.fr

But. it is strictly forbidden to members of your entourage to display your five-pointed star: the illegal port decoration is punishable by one year imprisonment and 15,000 euros fine

Yes.. A legionnaire can be stripped of his decoration in case of a criminal conviction, forfeiture of French nationality or if “committed acts contrary to honor or likely to harm the interests of France” .

This is what happened to Maurice Papon, deposed in 1999 of the Commander Order of the Legion of Honour after his final conviction for a crime against humanity, because of his involvement in the deportation of Jews under the Vichy regime. Despite protests, the former minister, however, continued to wear the decoration in his button down to his last home, as he was buried with his Legion of Honour.



Maurice Papon during his trial for & quot; complicity in crimes against humanity & quot; in Bordeaux, February 2, 1998.

This type of measurement is extremely rare. The last date of January 2013, when François Hollande has decided to exclude the order Jean-François Collin, a former member of the Organization of the Secret Army (OAS), decorated with two years earlier as a disabled war veteran in Algeria.

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