National Gendarmerie in the context of "Statutory body"

The French Armed Forces (French: Forces armées françaises, pronounced [fɔʁs aʁme fʁɑ̃sɛːz]) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military reserve force. As stipulated by France's constitution, the president of France serves as commander-in-chief of the French military. The Chief of the Defence Staff, currently Général d'armée aérienne Fabien Mandon, serves as the Armed Forces' military head.

France has the ninth largest defense budget in the world and the second largest in the European Union (EU). It also has the largest military by size in the EU. As of 2025, the total active personnel of the French Armed Forces is 264,000. While the reserve personnel is 43,000, for a total of 307,000 personnel (excluding the National Gendarmerie). Including the National Gendarmerie (155,000 in 2024), the total manpower of the French Armed Forces combined is 462,000 strong. A 2015 Credit Suisse report ranked the French Armed Forces as the world's sixth most powerful military.

Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public through significant injury or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensure the protection of citizens, persons in their territory, organizations, and institutions against threats to their well-being, survival, and prosperity.

The public safety issues that a municipality, county, regional, or federal jurisdiction may handle include crimes (ranging from misdemeanors to felonies), structure fires, conflagrations, medical emergencies, mass-casualty incidents, disasters, terrorism, and other concerns.

The Maritime Gendarmerie (French: Gendarmerie maritime) is a component of the French National Gendarmerie under operational control of the chief of staff of the French Navy. It employs 1,157 personnel and operates around thirty patrol boats and high-speed motorboats distributed on the littoral waterways of France. Like their land-based colleagues the Gendarmes Maritime are military personnel who carry out policing operations in addition to their primary role as a coast guard service. They also carry out provost duties within the French Navy.

The uniforms and insignia of the Gendarmerie Maritime are very similar to those of the French Navy, but the ranks used are those of the rest of the Gendarmerie (which are the same as the traditional ranks of the French Cavalry).

Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism and violent extremism.

If an act of terrorism occurs as part of a broader insurgency (and insurgency is included in the definition of terrorism) then counterterrorism may additionally employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term "foreign internal defense" for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop.

Air France Flight 8969 (Operation Rock Climber) was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The militants murdered three passengers and their intention was either to detonate the aircraft over the Eiffel Tower or the Tour Montparnasse in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the GIGN, a tier one counterterrorism and hostage rescue unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers. The incident led to Air France halting their flights to Algeria until 2004, two years after the end of the Algerian Civil War.

A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example regulations or statutory instruments) in their field. They are typically found in countries which are governed by a British style of parliamentary democracy such as the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth countries like Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand. They are also found in Hong Kong, Israel and elsewhere. Statutory authorities may also be statutory corporations, if created as a body corporate.