French lawmakers were handed the power to dictate a U.S.-style impeachment of their president following a new law that was passed on Wednesday, The Local reported.
Until now, Heads of state in France had enjoyed some of the strongest legal protections in the West - only removable in cases of high treason, which is a procedure that's never been used in modern France.
However on Wednesday, the Constitutional Council approved a law, which had been voted through parliament last month, enabling MPs with the power to depose the president from office in cases where there has been a "breach of their duties that is clearly incompatible with the exercise of their mandate."
Currently, President François Hollande has been plagued with disastrous approval ratings for his failure to cut record unemployment.
At first, the impeachment process will require 10 percent of upper house senators and 10 percent of lower house deputies to sign a resolution. Then, a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament must vote to convene a special session of select lawmakers known as the High Court.
Following the vote, the court will have a month to make a decision, where another two-thirds majority will be required for the resolution to be passed, according to The Peninsula.
Although presidents in the United States are not shielded from facing both civil and criminal prosecution while in office, their counterparts in France had till now basked in far more protection.
Meanwhile, it took about 12 years for the reform to get passed.
First announced in 2002 by then-president Jacques Chirac, the reform finally came before deputies in the lower house in January 2012 at the end of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency. It was passed by senators in October.
"The end of the presidencies of both Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy signaled a rush of legal activity that ended with a corruption conviction for Chirac. Though he's targeted in a half dozen investigations, Sarkozy has avoided being convicted so far," according to The Local.
"France's antiquated approach to giving full immunity to its president, similar that given to royalty in other eras, have frequently come in for criticism, but the rule is not targeted by any major active effort to undo it at present."
In addition, although the president can in theory be impeached, heads of state in France are still protected from criminal prosecution during their five-year terms in office.
