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There are rules, and the fact that the French government break those all the time is no excuse when finally somebody ends up being prosecuted :

http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2014/04/09/squarcini-c...

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affaire_des_%C3%A9coutes_de_l%...

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In some areas, yes. But I am under the impression that as long as they can say "Secret Défense", the DGSE people can do whatever they want.

That is largely correct. One way to look at the french state is that it is more worried about maintaining order than serving justice. And historically, the population has largely supported this stance. (unfortunately imo)

That doesn't sound appreciably different from the US's "state secrets" defense

At least, there was an effort to implement some controls over intelligence agencies following the Church Committee. It is unfortunate that it turned out to be effective, but at least the intention was there.

The French law only mentions a weak commission with "consultative" powers.

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