French system of Jurisdiction

In academic terms, French law can be divided into two main categories: private or judicial law ("droit privé") and public law ("droit public").

Judicial law includes, in particular:

• civil law ("droit civil"); and
• criminal law ("droit pénal").

Public law includes, in particular:

• administrative law ("droit administratif"); and
• constitutional law ("droit constitutionnel").

Together, in practical terms, these four areas of law (civil, criminal, administrative and constitutional) constitute the major part of French law.

The announcement in November 2005 by the European Commission that, on the basis of powers recognised in a recent European Court of Justice ("ECJ") ruling, it intends to create a dozen or so European Union ("EU") criminal offences suggests that one should also now consider EU law ("droit communautaire", sometimes referred to, less accurately, as "droit européen") as a new and distinct area of law in France (akin to the "federal laws" that apply across States of the US, on top of their own State law), and not simply a group of rules which influence the content of France's civil, criminal, administrative and constitutional law.

Civil Private Law[link]

The term civil law in its general sense refers to private law, e.g., corporate law and the law of contracts, and should be distinguished from the French legal system as a whole, also known as civil law (vs. common law). The body of statutes and laws governing civil law and procedure are set out in the Civil Code of France.^[1] Article 5 of the Civil Code specifically prohibits the practice of case law,^[2] while Article 4 provides for the punishment of judges who refuse to give sentence if there is insufficient legal material on the idea that it is a refusal of justice.^[3]

Criminal Law[link]

French criminal law is governed first and foremost by the Code pénal, or Criminal Code. For example, the Criminal Code formally prohibits violent offences, e.g., homicide, assault, etc., and many pecuniary offences such as theft or money laundering, and provides general punishment guidelines. However, a number of criminal topics, e.g., slander and libel, have not been codified but are instead addressed by legislation.^[4]

Constitutional Law[link]

This section requires expansion.

Constitutional law is a branch of public law dealing with :

– human rights as applied in French law

– constitution and functioning of the public authorities and the government and, in particular the relationship between the three constitutional powers, executive, legislative and judiciary.

– relationship between citizens and public authorities, in particular the participation of French citizens to the exercise of public powers.

It fixes the hierarchy of laws and rules within the French legal system and the relationship between these different norms. Constitutional law became independent from political science and administrative law with the Constitution of 1958 which included the institution of a constitutional court, the "Conseil Constitutionnel".

EU Union Law[link]

Traditionally, Union law has been viewed as a body of rules which are transposed automatically (in the case of a regulation) or by national legislation (in the case of a directive) into French domestic law, be it civil, criminal, administrative or constitutional.

However, in November 2005 the Commission announced that, on the basis of a (somewhat controversial) ECJ court decision (holding that the EU had the right to require Member States to introduce criminal laws because, in the case at hand, it was necessary to uphold EU legislation on combatting pollution), it intended to create a dozen or so EU criminal offences, creating echos of the federal laws which exist in the United States of America. Indeed, the Commission - led by its Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Franco Frattini - insists that the principle created in the ECJ court decision applies across all policies, not just policies concerning pollution.

Subsequently, in May 2006, the Commission formally submitted to the EU Parliament and EU Council (which have co-decision powers) the first draft directive aiming to put this new prerogative into effect. The draft concerns counterfeiting (for example, of car parts, drugs, or children's toys) and requires each Member State to set the following penalties for what it terms "organised counterfeiters": a period of imprisonment of up to four years and a fine of up to €300,000. The Parliament began its consideration of the draft directive in March 2007.

See also[link]

• French judicial system in post-Napoleonic France
• Legal systems of the world
• Napoleonic code
• 1825 Anti-Sacrilege Act
• Jules Ferry laws
• Lois scélérates

References[link]

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Clavier, Sophie M. (July 1997) (DOC). Perspectives on French Criminal Law. San Francisco State University. http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~sclavier/research/frenchpenalsystem.doc. Retrieved 2008-05-07. 

Further reading[link]

• Aubert, Jean-Luc. Introduction au droit (Presses Universitaires de France, 2002) ISBN 2-13-053181-4, 127 pages (many editions)
  • One of the 'Que sais-je?' series of "pocketbook" volumes, which provide readable short summaries
• Cairns, Walter. Introduction to French law (London : Cavendish, 1995) ISBN 1-85941-112-6.
• Elliott, Catherine. French legal system (Harlow, England : Longman, 2000) ISBN 0-582-32747-4.
• Starck, Boris. Introduction au droit 5. éd. (Paris : Litec, c2000) ISBN 2-7111-3221-8.
• Bell, John. Principles of French law (Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1998) ISBN 0-19-876394-8, ISBN 0-19-876395-6.
• Dadomo, Christian. The French legal system 2nd ed. (London : Sweet & Maxwell, 1996) ISBN 0-421-53970-4.
• West, Andrew. The French legal system 2nd ed. (London : Butterworths, 1998) ISBN 0-406-90323-9.
• Reynolds, Thomas. Foreign law : current sources of codes and basic legislation in jurisdictions of the world (Littleton, Colo. : F.B. Rothman, 1989- ) v. (loose-leaf) ; 24 cm. ; Series : AALL publications series 33 ; Contents v. 1. The Western hemisphere—v. 2. Western and Eastern Europe—v. 3. Africa, Asia and Australia. ISBN 0-8377-0134-1 ; http://www.foreignlawguide.com/
  • For both an overview and pointers toward further study, see the excellent introduction to the "France" section
• David, René. Major legal systems in the world today : an introduction to the comparative study of law 3rd ed. (London : Stevens, 1985) ISBN 0-420-47340-8, ISBN 0-420-47350-5 ; (Birmingham, AL : Gryphon Editions, 1988) ISBN 0-420-47340-8.
• Brissaud, Jean. A history of French public law (Boston : Little, Brown, and Company, 1915) Series : The Continental legal history series v. 9 ; Note : A translation of pt. II (omitting the first two sections of the introduction) of the author's Manuel d'histoire du droit français.
  • French legal history appears throughout most of the above.
• Brissaud, Jean. A history of French private law (Boston : Little, Brown, and Company, 1912) Series : The Continental legal history series v. 3. Note : Translation of pt. III (with the addition of one chapter from pt. II) of the author's Manuel d'histoire du droit français.
• Brissaud, Jean, 1854-1904. Manuel d'histoire du droit français (Paris : Albert Fontemoing, 1908).
  • the original French text
• Castaldo, André. Introduction historique au droit 2. éd. (Paris : Dalloz, c2003) ISBN 2-247-05159-6.
• Rigaudière, Albert. Introduction historique à l'étude du droit et des institutions (Paris : Economica, 2001) ISBN 2-7178-4328-0.
• Thireau, Jean-Louis. Introduction historique au droit (Paris : Flammarion, c2001) ISBN 2-08-083014-7.
• Bart, Jean. Histoire du droit (Paris : Dalloz, c1999) ISBN 2-247-03738-0.
• Carbasse, Jean-Marie. Introduction historique au droit 2. éd. corr. (Paris : Presses universitaires de France, 1999, c1998) ISBN 2-13-049621-0.

External links[link]

• History of the laws of France
• Legifrance:Codes and Texts - a clear and easily-followed outline of the French legal structure
• About Law - recommended for beginners
• (French) Droit français - a clear and easily-followed outline of the French legal structure
• (French) French site of collective agreements
• (French) Directory of French law firms

François Hollande
Hollande in Nantes (2012)
24th President of France
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2012
Prime Minister	Jean-Marc Ayrault
Preceded by	Nicolas Sarkozy
Co-Prince of Andorra
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2012 Serving with Joan Enric Vives Sicília
Prime Minister	Antoni Martí
Representative	Christian Frémont
Preceded by	Nicolas Sarkozy
President of the General Council of Corrèze
In office 20 March 2008 – 15 May 2012
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Dupont
Succeeded by	Gérard Bonnet (Acting)
First Secretary of the Socialist Party
In office 27 November 1997 – 27 November 2008
Preceded by	Lionel Jospin
Succeeded by	Martine Aubry
Mayor of Tulle
In office 17 March 2001 – 17 March 2008
Preceded by	Raymond-Max Aubert
Succeeded by	Bernard Combes
Deputy of the National Assembly for Corrèze's 1st Constituency
In office 12 June 1997 – 15 May 2012
Preceded by	Raymond-Max Aubert
Succeeded by	TBD
In office 12 June 1988 – 16 May 1993
Preceded by	Proportional representation
Succeeded by	Raymond-Max Aubert
Personal details
Born	François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (1954-08-12) 12 August 1954 (age 57) Rouen, France
Political party	Socialist Party
Domestic partner	Ségolène Royal (1978–2007) Valérie Trierweiler (2005–present)
Children	Thomas Clémence Julien Flora
Alma mater	School of High Commercial Studies, Paris Institute of Political Studies, Paris National School of Administration, Strasbourg
Signature

Styles of François Hollande
Reference style	Son Excellence (Monsieur)
Spoken style	Monsieur le Président

Styles of François Hollande
Reference style	His Serene Highness
Spoken style	Your Serene Highness

François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa ɔlɑ̃d]; born 12 August 1954) is the 24th President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He previously served as the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party from 1997 to 2008 and as a Deputy of the National Assembly of France for Corrèze's 1st Constituency from 1988 to 1993 and then again from 1997 to 2012. He also served as the Mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008 and the President of the General Council of Corrèze from 2008 to 2012.

He was elected President of France on 6 May 2012, defeating the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, and was inaugurated on 15 May.^[1] He is the second Socialist President of the Fifth French Republic, after François Mitterrand who served from 1981 to 1995.

Early life and background[link]

Hollande was born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, to a middle-class family. His mother, Nicole Frédérique Marguerite Tribert (1927–2009), was a social worker, and his father, Georges Gustave Hollande, an ear, nose, and throat doctor who "had once run for the extreme right in local politics."^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The surname "Hollande" is "believed to come from Calvinist ancestors who escaped Holland (the Netherlands) in the 16th century and took the name of their old country."^[7] Hollande was raised Catholic but quietly rebelled against the strict religious brothers chosen by his father to educate him.^[7] The family moved to Neuilly, a suburb of Paris, when Hollande was 13.^[8]

Education[link]

He attended Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle boarding school, then HEC Paris, École nationale d'administration, and the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies). He graduated from ENA in 1980.^[9][10] He lived in the United States in the summer of 1974 while he was a university student.^[11] Immediately after graduating, he was employed as a councillor in the Court of Audit.

Early political career[link]

After volunteering as a student to work for François Mitterrand's ultimately unsuccessful campaign in the 1974 presidential election, Hollande joined the Socialist Party five years later. He was quickly spotted by Jacques Attali, a senior adviser to Mitterrand, who arranged for Hollande to stand for election to the French National Assembly in 1981 in Corrèze against future President Jacques Chirac, who was then the Leader of the Rally for the Republic, a Neo-Gaullist party. Hollande lost to Chirac in the first round, although he would go on to become a Special Adviser to the newly-elected President Mitterrand, before serving as a staffer for Max Gallo, the government's spokesman. After becoming a Municipal Councillor for Ussel in 1983, he contested Corrèze for a second time in 1988, this time being elected to the National Assembly. Hollande lost his bid for re-election to the National Assembly in the so-called "blue wave" of the 1993 election, described as such due to the number of seats gained by the Right at the expense of the Socialist Party.

First Secretary of the Socialist Party[link]

As the end of Mitterrand's term in office approached, the Socialist Party was torn by a struggle of internal factions, each seeking to influence the direction of the party. Hollande pleaded for reconciliation and for the party to unite behind Jacques Delors, the President of the European Commission, but Delors renounced his ambitions to run for the French Presidency in 1995, leading to Lionel Jospin's resuming his earlier position as the leader of the party. Jospin selected Hollande to become the official party spokesman, and Hollande went on to contest Corrèze once again in 1997, successfully returning to the National Assembly. That same year, Jospin became the Prime Minister of France, and Hollande won the election for his successor as First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, a position he would hold for eleven years. Because of the very strong position of the Socialist Party within the French Government during this period, Hollande's position led some to refer to him the "Vice Prime Minister". Hollande would go on to be elected the Mayor of Tulle in 2001, an office he would hold for the next seven years.

The immediate resignation of Jospin from politics following his shock defeat by far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of the 2002 presidential election forced Hollande to become the public face of the party for the 2002 legislative election but, although he managed to limit defeats and was re-elected in his own constituency, the Socialists lost nationally. In order to prepare for the 2003 Party Congress in Dijon, he obtained the support of many notable personalities of the party and was re-elected First Secretary against opposition from left-wing factions. After the triumph of the Left in the 2004 regional elections, Hollande was cited as a potential presidential candidate, but the Socialists were divided on the European Constitution, and Hollande's support for the ill-fated "yes" position in the French referendum on the European Constitution caused friction within the party. Although Hollande was re-elected as First Secretary at the Le Mans Congress in 2005, his authority over the party began to decline from this point onwards. Eventually his domestic partner, Ségolène Royal, was chosen to represent the Socialist Party in the 2007 presidential election, where she would lose to Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande was widely blamed for the poor performances of the Socialist Party in the 2007 elections, and he announced that he would not seek another term as First Secretary. Hollande publicly declared his support for Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, although it was Martine Aubry who would go on to win the race to succeed him in 2008.

Following his resignation as First Secretary, Hollande was immediately elected to replace Jean-Pierre Dupont as the President of the General Council of Corrèze in April 2008, a position he holds to this day. In 2008 he supported the creation of the first European Prize for Local History (Étienne Baluze Prize), founded by the "Société des Amis du musée du cloître" of Tulle, on the suggestion of the French historian Jean Boutier. François Hollande awarded the first prize on 29 February 2008 to the Italian historian Beatrice Palmero in the General Council of Corrèze.

2012 presidential campaign[link]

See also: French presidential election, 2012

Following his re-election as President of the General Council of Corrèze in March 2011, Hollande announced that he would be a candidate in the upcoming primary election to select the Socialist and Radical Left Party presidential nominee.^[12] The primary marked the first time that both parties had held an open primary to select a joint nominee at the same time. He initially trailed the front-runner, former Finance Minister and IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Following Strauss-Kahn's arrest on suspicion of sexual assault in New York City in May 2011, Hollande began to lead the opinion polls. His position as front-runner was established just as Strauss-Kahn declared that he would no longer be seeking the nomination. After a series of televised debates throughout September, Hollande topped the ballot in the first round held on 9 October with 39% of the vote, not gaining the 50% required to avoid a second ballot, which he would contest against Martine Aubry, who had come second with 30% of the vote.

The second ballot took place on 16 October 2011. Hollande won with 56% of the vote to Aubry's 43% and thus became the official Socialist and Radical Left Party candidate for the 2012 presidential election.^[13] After the primary results, he immediately gained the pledged support of the other contenders for the party's nomination, including Aubry, Arnaud Montebourg, Manuel Valls and 2007 candidate Ségolène Royal.^[14]

Hollande's presidential campaign was managed by Pierre Moscovici and Stéphane Le Foll, a Member of Parliament and Member of the European Parliament respectively.^[15] Hollande launched his campaign officially with a rally and major speech at Le Bourget on 22 January 2012 in front of 25,000 people.^[16][17] The main themes of his speech were equality and the regulation of finance, both of which he promised to make a key part of his campaign.^[17]

On 26 January he outlined a full list of policies in a manifesto containing 60 propositions, including the separation of retail activities from riskier investment-banking businesses; raising taxes for big corporations, banks and the wealthy; creating 60,000 teaching jobs; bringing the official retirement age back down to 60 from 62; creating subsidised jobs in areas of high unemployment for the young; promoting more industry in France by creating a public investment bank; granting marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples; and pulling French troops out of Afghanistan in 2012.^[18][19] On 9 February, he detailed his policies specifically relating to education in a major speech in Orléans.^[20]

On 15 February, incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would run for a second and final term, strongly criticising Hollande's proposals and claiming that he would bring about "economic disaster within two days of taking office" if he won.^[21]

Hollande visited Berlin, Germany, in December 2011 for the Social Democrats Federal Party Congress, at which he met Sigmar Gabriel, Peer Steinbrück, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Martin Schulz;^[22][23] he also travelled to Belgium before the United Kingdom in February 2012, where he met with Opposition Leader Ed Miliband; and finally Tunisia in May 2012.^[24][25]

Opinion polls showed a tight race between the two men in the first round of voting, with most polls showing Hollande comfortably ahead of Sarkozy in a hypothetical second round run-off.^[26]

The first round of the presidential election was held on 22 April. François Hollande came in first place with 28.63% of the vote, and faced Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round run-off.^[27] In the second round of voting on 6 May 2012, François Hollande was elected President of the French Republic with 51.7% of the vote.^[1]

President of France[link]

Hollande (right) and outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy at Élysée Palace on inauguration day, May 15.

François Hollande was elected President of France on 6 May 2012. He was inaugurated on 15 May, and shortly afterwards appointed Jean-Marc Ayrault to be his Prime Minister. He also appointed Benoît Puga to be his military chief of staff, Pierre-René Lemas as his General Secretary and Pierre Besnard as his Head of Cabinet.^[28] On his first official visit to a foreign country in his capacity as President of France, the aeroplane transporting him was hit by lightning.^[29] The plane returned safely to Paris where he took another flight to Germany.

Policies[link]

• Foreign policy: supports the withdrawal of French troops present in Afghanistan by the end of 2012.^[30]
• European politics: aims to conclude a new contract of Franco-German partnership and he advocates the adoption of a Directive on the protection of public services. Proposes closer Franco-German partnership: "an acceleration of the establishment of a Franco-German civic service, the creation of a Franco-German research office, the creation of a Franco-German industrial fund to finance common competitiveness clusters (transport, energy or environment) and the establishment of a common military headquarters."^[31]
• Financial system: backs the creation of a European rating agency and the separation of lending and investment in banks.
• Energy: endorses reducing the share of electricity generated by nuclear power in France from 75 to 50% in favor of renewable energy sources.
• Tax revenues above 1,000,000 euros per year at a 75% rate (rates for part of the income below a million not changed).
• Taxation: supports the merger of income tax and the General Social Contribution (CSG), the creation of an additional 45% for additional income of 150,000 euros, capping tax loopholes at a maximum of €10,000 per year, and questioning the relief solidarity tax on wealth (ISF, Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune) measure that should bring €29 billion in additional revenue.
• Education: supports the recruitment of 60,000 civil servants (new teachers), the creation of a study allowance and means-tested training, setting up a mutually beneficial contract that would allow a generation of experienced employees and craftsmen to be the guardians and teachers of younger newly-hired employees, thereby creating a total of 150,000 subsidized jobs.
• Aid to SMEs, with the creation of a public bank investment-oriented SME's and reducing the corporate tax rate to 30% for medium corporations and 15% for small.
• Recruitment of 5,000 judges, police officers and gendarmes.
• Construction of 500,000 state ruled homes per year, including 150,000 social, funded by a doubling of the ceiling of the A passbook, the region making available its local government land within five years.
• Restoration of retirement (paid by the State) at age 60 for those who have contributed more than 41 years.
• Hollande supported same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBT couples, and has plans to pursue the issue in early 2013.^[32]
• The provision of development funds for deprived suburbs.^[33]
• Return to a deficit of 0% of GDP in 2017.^[34]
• Favours ratifying the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, for the recognition of regional languages of France: Alsatian, Lorraine Franconian, French Flemish, Catalan, Corsican, Breton, Gallo, Basque, Langues d'oïl, Franco-Provençal and Occitan.^[35][36]
• Wants to "combine the positions of presidents of the European Commission and of the European Council (currently held by José Manuel Barroso and Herman van Rompuy respectively) into a single office and that it should be directly chosen" by the Members of the European Parliament.^[31]

Personal life[link]

Hollande with his former partner, Ségolène Royal, at a rally for the 2007 elections

For over 30 years, his partner was fellow Socialist politician Ségolène Royal, with whom he has four children – Thomas (1984), Clémence (1985), Julien (1987) and Flora (1992). In June 2007, just a month after Royal's defeat in the French presidential election of 2007, the couple announced that they were separating.^[37]

A few months after his split from Ségolène Royal was announced, a French website published details of a relationship between Hollande and French journalist Valérie Trierweiler. This disclosure was controversial, as some considered it to be a breach of France's strict stance on the privacy of politicians' personal affairs. In November 2007, Valérie Trierweiler confirmed and openly discussed her relationship with Hollande in an interview with the French weekly Télé 7 Jours.

Honours and decorations[link]

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour (2012 — automatic upon taking office)
• Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2012 — automatic upon taking office)

Works[link]

Hollande has had a large number of books and academic works published, including:

• L'Heure des choix. Pour une économie politique (The hour of choices. For a political economy), with Pierre Moscovici, 1991. ISBN 2-7381-0146-1
• L'Idée socialiste aujourd'hui (The Socialist Idea Today), Omnibus, 2001. ISBN 978-2-259-19584-3
• Devoirs de vérité (Duties of truth), interviews with Edwy Plenel, éd. Stock, 2007. ISBN 978-2-234-05934-4
• Droit d'inventaires (Rights of inventory), interviews with Pierre Favier, Le Seuil, 2009. ISBN 978-2-02-097913-9
• Le rêve français (The French Dream), Privat, August 2011. ISBN 978-2-7089-4441-1
• Un destin pour la France (A Destiny for France), Fayard, January 2012. ISBN 978-2-213-66283-1
• Changer de destin (Changing destiny), Robert Laffont, February 2012. ISBN 978-2-221-13117-6

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Michel, Richard (2011). François Hollande: L'inattendu. Paris: Archipel. ISBN 978-2-8098-0600-7.  (French)
• Raffy, Serge (2011). François Hollande: Itinéraire Secret. Paris: Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-63520-0.  (French)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: François Hollande

• (French) President of France
• (French) Official page at the French National Assembly
• (French) Official website
• François Hollande, 11 années à la tête du Parti Socialiste, Politique.net
• Michael C. Behrent (Sister Republic),"Socialism of Adjustment: François Hollande"

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Jude Law
Law at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Born	David Jude Heyworth Law (1972-12-29) 29 December 1972 (age 39) Lewisham, London, UK
Occupation	Actor, producer, director
Years active	1987–present
Spouse	Sadie Frost (1997–2003; 3 children)

David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972), known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.^[1][2]

He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989. After starring in films directed by Andrew Niccol, Clint Eastwood and David Cronenberg, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1999 for his performance in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley. In 2000 he won a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for his work in the film. In 2003, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in another Minghella film, Cold Mountain.

In 2006, he was one of the top ten most bankable movie stars in Hollywood.^[3] In 2007, he received an Honorary César and he was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.^[4][5] He was a member of the main competition jury at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.^[6]

Early life[link]

Law was born in Lewisham, South London, the second child of comprehensive school teachers Margaret Anne (née Heyworth) and Peter Robert Law; his father later became, according to Law, "the youngest headmaster in London".^[1][7] He has a sister, Natasha.^[7] Law was named after a "bit of both" the book Jude the Obscure and the song Hey Jude.^[7] He grew up in Blackheath, an area in the Borough of Lewisham,^[8] and was educated at John Ball Primary School in Blackheath and Kidbrooke School, before attending the Alleyn's School.^[7]

Career[link]

1980s–1990s[link]

In 1987, Law began acting with National Youth Music Theatre.^[9] He played various roles in the Edinburgh Fringe-awarded play The Ragged Child. One of his first major stage roles was Foxtrot Darling in Philip Ridley's The Fastest Clock In The Universe. Law went on to appear as Michael in the West End production of Jean Cocteau's tragicomedy Les Parents terribles, directed by Sean Mathias.^[7] For this play, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Newcomer, and he received the Ian Charleson Award for Outstanding Newcomer.

Following a title change to Indiscretions, the play was reworked and transferred to Broadway in 1995, where Law acted opposite Kathleen Turner, Roger Rees, and Cynthia Nixon.^[10][11] This role earned him a Tony Award nomination^[12] and the Theatre World Award.^[13] In 1989, Law got his first television role, in a movie based on the Beatrix Potter children's book, The Tailor of Gloucester. After minor roles in British television, including a two-year stint in the Granada TV soap opera Families and the leading role in the BFI /Channel 4 short The Crane, Law had his breakthrough with the British crime drama Shopping, which also featured his future wife, Sadie Frost.

In 1997, he became more widely known with his role in the Oscar Wilde bio-pic Wilde.^[7] Law won the "Most Promising Newcomer" award from the Evening Standard British Film Awards for his role as Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, the glamorous lover of Stephen Fry's Oscar Wilde.^[14] In Andrew Niccol's science fiction film Gattaca, Law played the role of a disabled former swimming star living in a eugenics-obsessed dystopia.^[7] In Clint Eastwood's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, he played the role of the ill-fated hustler murdered by an art dealer, played by Kevin Spacey.

For The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999, he learned to play saxophone and earned a MTV Movie Award nomination with Matt Damon and Fiorello for performing the song "Tu vuò fà l'americano" by Renato Carosone and Nicola Salerno.

2000s[link]

In 2001, Law starred as Russian sniper Vasily Zaytsev in the film Enemy At The Gates, and learned ballet dancing for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001).^[15] In 2002, he played a mob hitman in Sam Mendes's 1930s period drama Road to Perdition. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999, and then again for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Cold Mountain in 2003. Both films were directed by Anthony Minghella.^[7]

Law at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

Law, an admirer of Laurence Olivier, used the actor's image in the 2004 film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Using computer graphics, footage of the young Olivier was merged into the film, playing Dr. Totenkopf, a mysterious scientific genius and supervillain.^[16][17] Also in 2004, he portrayed the title character in Alfie, the remake of Bill Naughton's 1966 film, playing the role originated by Michael Caine.^[7] Law was one of the Top Ten 2006 A-list of the most bankable movie stars in Hollywood, following the criteria of James Ulmer in the Ulmer Scale.^[3] On 1 March 2007, he was honoured with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres conferred by the French government, in recognition of his contribution to World Cinema Arts. He was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.^[4]

He took on another of Caine's earlier roles in the 2007 film Sleuth, adapted by Nobel Laureate in Literature Harold Pinter, while Caine played the role originated by Sir Laurence Olivier.^[18]

Law is one of three actors who took over the role of actor Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Along with Law, actors Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell portray "three separate dimensions in the film."^[19][20] He appeared opposite Forest Whitaker in the dark science fiction comedy Repo Men and as Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's adaption of Sherlock Holmes, alongside Robert Downey, Jr. and Rachel McAdams, as well as the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Law starred as a celebrity supermodel in the film Rage,^[21] and blogger and "prophet" Alan Krumwiede in the 2011 medical thriller Contagion.

[edit] Hamlet

In May 2009, Law returned to the London stage to portray the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Donmar Warehouse West End season at Wyndham's Theatre. The BBC reported "a fine and solid performance" but included other reviews of Law's interpretation that were mixed.^[22] There was a further run of the production at Elsinore Castle in Denmark from 25–30 August 2009.^[23] In September 2009 the production transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre in New York. Again, the critics failed to agree on the merit of Law's interpretation: London's Daily Mail found only positive reviews,^[24] but The Washington Post felt that the much-anticipated performance was "highly disappointing".^[25] Nonetheless, he was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.^[26] In January 2010 at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards ceremony he was presented with the John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance for his 2009 Hamlet.^[27]

Other projects[link]

Advertising[link]

Law is the face of the male perfume of Dior, Dior Homme Sport.^[28][29][30] Since 2005, he has represented Dunhill as an "apparel ambassador" in Asia.^[31] In 2008, he became the international face of Dunhill and appears in the worldwide advertising campaigns.^[32]

In 2002, he directed a Respect for Animals anti-fur cinema commercial. The commercial, titled "Fur and Against", used music composed by Gary Kemp, and included appearances by Law, Chrissie Hynde, Moby, George Michael, Danny Goffey, Rhys Ifans, Sadie Frost, Helena Christensen, Sir Paul McCartney, Mel C, and Stella McCartney.^[33]

[edit] Realtime Movie

In early 2007 Law shot the Jason Martin-directed short film "Realtime Movie Trailer" at Borough Market, South London. Instead of promoting a film, this "trailer", which appeared among regular trailers in selected cinemas across London starting 19 November 2007, advertised a live event, Realtime Movie, by Polish artist Paweł Althamer. Hundreds turned up for this–unfilmed–re-enactment in real time of the sequence of events shown in "Realtime Movie Trailer" by the same actors, including Althamer as a Polish laborer, held at Borough Market on 30 November 2007. The performance was commissioned by Tate Modern as part of its "The World as a Stage" exhibition which explored the boundaries between arts and reality.^{[34][35][36][37]}

Charity activities[link]

In 2004, Law launched a campaign to raise £2.5 million towards the Young Vic Theatre's £12.5 million redevelopment project.^[38][39] He is currently Chair of the Young Vic committee and has said that he is proud to help make the Young Vic "a nurturing bed" for young directors.^[40] In 2006, he joined Robbie Williams in the "Soccer Aid" celebrity football match to benefit UNICEF.^[41]

In 2006, he starred in an anthology of Samuel Beckett readings and performances directed by director Anthony Minghella. With the Beckett Gala Evening at the Reading Town Hall, more than £22,000 was donated for the Macmillan Cancer Support.^[42] Also in 2006, Frost and Law directed a Shakespeare play in a South African orphanage. He travelled to Durban with Frost and their children in order to help children who have lost their parents to AIDS. In July 2007, as patron of the charity, he helped kick off the month-long tour of the AIDS-themed musical Thula Sizwe by The Young Zulu Warriors.^[43] Also in 2007, he encouraged the Friends of the Earth/The Big Ask campaign, asking British Government to take action against climate change.^[44][45][46]

Law does charity work for organizations such as Make Poverty History, the Rhys Daniels Trust, and the WAVE Trauma Centre.^[47] He supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Pride of Britain Awards.^{[48][49][50][51]}