In order to preserve the international dimension of the legal profession, the French legislature has established an exceptional pathway allowing lawyers from countries outside the European Union to register with a French bar association and practice law there. This is the well-known examination provided for in Article 100 of Decree No. 91-1197 of November 27, 1991, governing the legal profession.

This article establishes a knowledge assessment exam, as provided for in the last paragraph of Article 11 of the Act of December 31, 1971, consisting of written and oral tests.

To be eligible to take this exam, a lawyer seeking to sit for it—whether a foreign national or a French national registered with a bar association in a non-European country—must first apply, through their personal account on the National Bar Council (CNB) platform, for a certificate of eligibility issued by the Commission for the Admission of Foreign Lawyers.

This certificate allows the candidate to register at one of the two examination centers that administer the exams under Article 100. Upon passing the exams, the candidate may then apply for admission to the French bar association of their choice, provided they meet the other legal requirements for admission.

A long-standing pragmatic interpretation of reciprocity

For many years, the Foreign Lawyers Admission Commission has taken a relatively flexible approach to the reciprocity requirement set forth in the law.

Thus, when a country’s legislation restricted access to the legal profession to its own nationals, the Commission nevertheless considered that the reciprocity requirement could be met as long as that country’s professional authorities certified that French lawyers could, in practice, be admitted to their bar.

Thanks to this pragmatic interpretation, many lawyers from non-European countries were able to take the Article 100 exam and subsequently practice law in France. Similarly, nationals of those countries who had completed their legal training at a French law school were able to enter the profession under normal circumstances.

A Shift in Case Law

This practice has gradually evolved as a result of increasingly restrictive case law.

French courts now apply a much stricter interpretation of reciprocity.

According to this new interpretation, the condition of reciprocity is not met when:

• the candidate’s country of origin requires citizenship to practice law;
• and that it does not provide for any exception comparable to the one established by France.

But case law goes even further.

She now believes that reciprocity must not only exist in law—through legislation or an international convention—but must also exist in practice.

In other words, it is no longer sufficient to demonstrate that French lawyers could theoretically be admitted to the country in question. It must also be established that French lawyers have in fact taken advantage of this opportunity.

The burden of proof rests entirely with the candidate.

In practice, this requirement is extremely difficult to meet.

Resolution of the National Bar Council of June 12, 2026

This development was formalized by a resolution adopted on June 12, 2026, by the National Bar Council, upon the recommendation of the Commission for the Admission of Foreign Attorneys.

This resolution adopts a much stricter interpretation of the reciprocity requirement set forth in Article 11 of Law No. 71-1130 of December 31, 1971.

However, several questions remain.

In fact, the resolution specifically addresses Article 11(1), which concerns the general conditions for admission to the legal profession, whereas the procedure set forth in Article 100 falls under Article 11(3), which specifically outlines the exceptional pathways available to foreign attorneys.

This distinction is not insignificant.

It raises several major questions.

Will the new interpretation apply to candidates who have already obtained their certificate of eligibility but have not yet taken the exam?

Will it also apply to those who have already passed the Article 100 exam but have not yet applied for admission to a French bar association?

What will happen to the affected nationals who are currently enrolled in a French law school or who have already been admitted to one?

Will we go so far as to call into question the right to practice of lawyers from these countries who are already admitted to a French bar?

Such a consequence would obviously be absurd.

Unless there is some confusion between the practice of the profession, to which Article 11(1) refers, and exceptional admission to the profession, as provided for by the specific provisions applicable to foreign attorneys.

The Initial Consequences

For the time being, the National Bar Council has only tasked the Commission for the Admission of Foreign Attorneys with implementing this resolution.

The first effects are already visible.

The Commission has begun notifying applicants whose applications had been pending for several months—and who had been asked to wait until this matter was resolved—that their eligibility certificates have been denied.

Tunisian lawyers are among those most affected.

In practice, they will no longer be able to register for the exam provided for in Article 100 and are thus denied any opportunity to join the French bar.

This new interpretation could also have implications for Tunisian nationals’ access to French vocational training, particularly by denying them enrollment in the CAPA program and access to law schools.

A political choice rather than a legal development

This is not a new legislative or regulatory provision.

No text has been changed.

Only the interpretation adopted by the professional bodies has changed.

This development nevertheless reflects a new trend, which is part of a broader shift toward restricting access for non-European nationals.

France thus appears to be gradually abandoning what was once one of its main tools for projecting its legal and cultural influence.

As had already been observed with the sharp increase in tuition fees imposed on non-European students, France’s legal soft power appears to be giving way to a trend toward isolationism.

By restricting access to its bar associations for the vast majority of lawyers from non-European countries, France runs the risk of permanently weakening the international influence of its legal system, its legal language, and its professional model. This decision is all the more paradoxical given that it comes at a time when competition from Anglo-Saxon legal systems is constantly intensifying and when the attractiveness of the legal professions is a major factor in states’ international influence.