On November 6, 2024, the French Supreme Court rejected the enforcement of an interim award on jurisdiction in the legal saga opposing Malaysia to the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu and spanning several jurisdictions. The Supreme...more
A decision handed down by the French Court of Cassation may affect the scope of attorney-client privilege in France....more
The Situation: The French Supreme Court recently considered whether a limitation of liability clause could be enforced against a third party to a contract claiming compensation for a breach of contract that caused it damage....more
In areas of French law that are ambiguous, the French Supreme Court regularly issues rulings to specify the scope of an employer’s obligations, including in the context of harassment claims. French caselaw has set the rules...more
The criminal liability of the absorbed company is transferred to the absorbing company, regardless of the corporate form of the company involved in the merger by absorption. In a ruling handed down on May 22, 2024, 1 the...more
In this case submitted to the Supreme Court (“Cour de cassation”), a State health insurance agency dismissed one of its employee for gross misconduct for having sent to some of her colleagues, through her professional email...more
On 18 October 2023, the Commercial Division of the French Supreme Court (Court of Cassation) issued a noteworthy ruling, in which it judged its own case law on restrictive competition practices to be "complex", a source of...more
Amid the continued expansion of the right to evidence, the court reversed its previous position that evidence obtained through unfair methods was inadmissible. When asked to re-examine the relationship between the right...more
A number of recent legislative and jurisprudential developments have improved the rights of persons prosecuted under the French guilty plea procedure (Comparution sur reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité in French, or...more
In a series of decisions given on 13 September 2023, the French Supreme Court has overruled its previous case law regarding the paid leave entitlements of employees who are absent from work as a result of sickness, an...more
Among the many fundamental rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights – the European analog to the United States’ Bill of Rights – lies the freedom of speech. Article 10 of the European Convention states that...more
Specific consultation in the event of restructuring: no obligation to consult the works council upstream on strategic orientations. Payment of an annual bonus provided for by collective agreements provisions: strict...more
The French Supreme Court confirmed the application of the scale provided by the French labor code for claims of unfair dismissal (called the Macron Scale) in two decisions dated 11 May 2022,2 thereby providing some security...more
On May 11, 2022, the French Supreme Court issued two long-awaited decisions on the statutory scale of indemnification—i.e., the Macron scale—currently applicable in cases of dismissal without cause....more
For employers doing business in France, the court’s recent decisions mean more predictability in the amounts that judges can award in case of unfair dismissals. In two landmark decisions on 11 May 2022, the Employment...more
In decision n° 20-11.754 of Feb. 16, 2022, the commercial chamber of the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) decided that the head of a qualitative selective distribution network is entitled to refuse to approve...more
The Competition and Distribution team of BCLP's Paris office reviews some key news from the end of 2020, in particular: ..The “Dammann Frères” decision of 3 December 2020 concerning the tea manufacturer's online sales...more
In a landmark decision of 11 December 2020 involving digital player Conversant (fka Valueclick), the French Supreme Tax Court (Conseil d’État) ruled that a French company can qualify as a dependent agent, and thus as a French...more
In light of a landmark decision from France’s highest court, acquiring companies will have to give greater consideration to criminal risks potentially weighing on them as a result of the merger. The Cour de cassation (the...more
The French Supreme Tax Court (Conseil d’État) ruled that the French withholding tax on the capital gain derived from the disposal of a substantial shareholding in a French company by a non-resident company is not compliant...more
On 25 November 2020 the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) overturned its decade-long case law, ruling that corporations may now be held criminally liable for offenses committed by acquired entities prior to the merger....more
On October 14, 2020, the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’Etat) published its decision in a lawsuit requesting that the French health data platform (Health Data Hub) be suspended for breach of the GDPR in light...more
On October 9, 2020, there were media reports that the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) had expressed concerns regarding the hosting by Microsoft (EU) of the French centralized public health database (the Health Data...more
Reporting Harassment to Third Parties Constitutes Slander - Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency - When reporting facts that can form the basis for a complaint of harassment (moral or sexual), the...more
Following the ruling of the Supreme Court on 17 July 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal, by a judgment dated 30 October 2019, validated the Macron grid capping damages for unfair dismissal. This policy, which limits the...more