[JURIST] France's highest judicial authority will rule on a controversial measure requiring French history teachers to stress the positive aspects of French colonialism. President Jacques Chirac [official profile] announced [press release] Thursday that he would refer the law [text], passed in February 2005, to France's Constitutional Court [official website] after stating his opposition [JURIST report] earlier this month. Criticism surrounded the law even before the November riots [JURIST report] that enveloped some of the Paris suburbs, and it has strained relations with Algeria, who in December asked the French government to apologize [JURIST report] for crimes committed during its colonization there. UPI has more. Le Monde has local coverage [in French].