Implicit powers in French administrative law

Broadly defined, implicit powers are powers that the judge deduces by interpreting the text of an express provision beyond the very meaning of the terms. The link between the power and the text from which it is deduced may vary: the power can be admitted on the basis of a specific provision or can derive from an extended view of the remit of the authority which receives this power. However, the same reasoning is at work in each case: we must presume that the author intended that his text shall fully take effect. Then we also assume that the authority has received not only all the powers explicitly described by the text, but also all those which are necessary to achieve the goals the author has assigned to this authority. Once this principle of interpretation set, the judge evaluates the requirement of an implicit power in relation with one or a body of provisions. Implicit powers have been admitted by the administrative case law. However, their designation is most often doubtful. Furthermore, the terms used by the judge for their recognition tightly connect their acceptance to the de facto necessity of the measures taken, despite a necessary differentiation between the one and the other. At last, the fact that this powers most often originate from a text determines their status, for the spirit of the text, if not the letter, still limits them