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► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Trio", in Mélanges en l'honneur au Professeur  Denis Mazeaud, LGDJ-Lextenso, 2025, sous presse.

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📝read the article (in French)

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🚧read the text written on the morning when Rémy called me to talk about building this collective book Denis.

Since then, due to editorial deadlines, this text has been modified, since this article deals with the so specific French Concours d'Agrégation de Droit, and François Terré, who prepared me for it, joined Pierre Catala before the overall typescript became final.

At Pierre Catala's funeral, where Rémy recounted their last meeting, I was seated at the back next to Yves Lequette, and at François Terré's funeral I was again seated at the back next to Jacques-Henri Robert.

Yves Lequette and Jacques-Henri Robert, with whom I worked long and hard to prepare the Mélanges in honour of François Terré. Yes, it is indeed the Mélanges that, in a great chain, honour the masters. It doesn't matter that this is incomprehensible to those outside the Alma Mater.

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► English Summary of this contribution : La contribution rend hommage à la personne de Denis Mazeaud en tant que candidat au Concours d'Agrégation des Facultés de Droit que nous passâmes ensemble. Tant que l'Université bénéficiera de professeurs construits ainsi, c'est-à-dire dans un rapport non compétitif avec leurs semblables et dans un rapport non financièrement valorisé avec leur savoir et leur talent, Alma Mater demeurera.

The contribution pays tribute to Denis Mazeaud as a candidate in the Concours d'Agrégation des Facultés de Droit that we took together. As long as the University benefits from professors built in this way, i.e. in a non-competitive relationship with their peers and in a non-financially valued relationship with their knowledge and talent, Alma Mater will remain.

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📗Read the general presentation of these Mélanges.

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► Référence complète : M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Compliance Law and Systemic Litigation", 15 septembre 2025, Madrid.

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Cette intervention 

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► Résumé de l'intervention (faite en anglais) : Au r

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► Full Reference:: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Compliance", in J.-Fr. Kerléo & E. Lemaire (dir.), Dictionnaire de l'éthique publique, LexisNexis, 2025, pp. 

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📗 read the general presentation of the Dictionary.

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📝read the article (in French).

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► English Summary of the article defining what is Compliance: The article explains Compliance in 7 points.

Firstly, it states that Compliance oscillates between a weak and a strong definition. It can be defined weakly as the demonstration of obedience to all applicable regulations, or it can be defined strongly as active participation in the achievement of 'monumental' ambitions for the future of the social group. Positive legal rules and case law are increasingly revealing the relevance of the strong definition, with the weak definition referring only to conformity to the Law.

Secondly, this understanding of the new branch of Law known as Compliance Law will enable us to master the regulations specifically relating to compliance (RGPD, French laws such as Sapin 2 Act and Vigilance Act, AML/FT, European AI Act, etc.), which are both more specific and more restrictive than the general obligation to comply with the applicable legal rules.

Thirdly, everyone can see the move from "extraterritoriality" to another thing which is the indifference to territoryd: Compliance is the right instrument for the digital space and for chains of activities.

Fourthly, this is due to the very nature of Compliance, which consists in internalising in companies in a position to be active the “Monumental Negative Goal” of preventing the collapse of systems (energy, climate, digital, banking, financial, algorithmic, etc.).

Fifthly, this internalisation is carried out by States and public authorities in entities in a position to act, i.e. in concrete terms in companies in a position to be active to reach the “Monumental Goals” by contributing to the improvement of systems so that these systems benefit in the present and the future the people who are de jure and de facto involved in them.

Sixthly, these goals become positive when it comes to educating people about probity and effective equality between human beings, notably through training policies. In this respect, Vigilance is the “cutting edge” of Compliance.

Seventhly, an “ex ante responsibility” of Crucial Operators subject to Compliance is emerging, and is articulated by Systemic Litigation which aims to balance and maintain systems, carried by States and these crucial companies.

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📝read the preentation of the other article written by Marie-Anne Frison-Roche for this Dictionary: "Régulation"

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► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Régulation" (Regulatory Law), in J.-Fr. Kerléo et E. Lemaire (dir.), Dictionnaire de l'éthique publique, LexisNexis, 2025, pp. 

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📗read the general presentation of the Dictionary.

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📝read the article  (in French)

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► English Summary of this article defining Regulation: To define Regulation (Regulatory Law), the article begins with its origins, which were a source of misunderstanding, since the term Regulation might refer to simple regulations, thus masking the real branch of Law which is the Law of Regulation. But this confusion with simple and formal regulations has diminished Regulatory Law its importance, its novelty and its originality, and, by placing it within Public Law, equated Regulation on the one hand with the transition from public monopolies to a competitive organisation, and on the other hand privileged the legal study of what fell within the remit of the Administrative Courts, i.e. telecommunications, transport and energy, leaving out the Regulatory Law of banking and financial sector . As a result, the unity and strength of Regulatory Law is still difficult to perceive and manage today, while its relationship with competition and Europe remains difficult.

Regulatory Law is all the more difficult to define because it is still common to oppose, as was the case in the 1980s, "Economic Regulatory Law", which would aim to set economic efficiency objectives within the State, and "Public Liberties Regulatory Law", which would be alternatives to each other, preventing the audiovisual, media and digital sectors in particular from being legally perceived as an industry. We are still paying for this initial conception. All the more so since Regulatory Law is the second pillar on which Europe is built, along with Competition, with which it is linked. It can be identified by the existence of a regulated 'sector', most often through the establishment of a regulatory authority, generally in the form of an Independent Administrative Body. But it is defined by the prevalence of the technical and political goals pursued, which are not spontaneously achieved and which aim to favour the human beings involved in economic organisations.

While the function of Competition Authorities is to maintain the dynamism of competitive markets and to punish behaviour that hinders them without creating that dynamism, Regulatory Law, through its own rules, principles, institutions, procedures and decisions, will create non-spontaneous équilibra and maintain them over time.  To do this, it will inject non-spontaneous procedures, such as transparency, or generate obligations and powers because these are necessary for this balance to be achieved. This can take the form of exclusive rights, which can go as far as the creation of monopolies, particularly on transport infrastructures, or the form of pricing and tarification, which can go as far as free access. Access rights are essential, whether technical or political (access to networks, access to healthcare).

The political dimension of Regulatory Law is very much in evidence, as Europe is developing its own form of Regulation compared with the USA or China, demonstrating the link between Regulation and Sovereignty, the criterion? of the technical sector becoming less significant. This is illustrated by the clash over algorithmic systems (AI).  In this way, regulation is not a technical reaction to a "market failure", but the manifestation of a zone's political power both internally and externally. The DSA (2022) is an example of this, imposing this same logic extraterritoriality in the digital space through the Digital Services Act (DSA) adopted in 2022.

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📝read the presentation of the other article written by Marie-Anne Frison-Roche for this Dictionary: "Compliance"

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► Référence complète : M.-A. Frison-Roche, "A côté d'𝑬𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒛, quels principes guident l'Avocate ?", article de la Newsletter Droit & Art, août 2025.

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🎬Regarder le film-annonce

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► Résumé de l'article : Dans le film de Jacques Audiard sorti en 2024, le personnage de l'Avocate ouvre et clôture le film.Si l'on centre son regard sur elle, l'on observera qu'elle est choisie par le client parce qu'elle a la capacité à lui procurer dans l'ombre et sans souci du Droit ce qu'il veut. La corruption étant un système qui lui est familier. Cette conception d'un office où le Droit a peu de place la conduit à s'opposer au conseil donné par le médecin. Ainsi à de nombreuses reprises elle exprime sa désapprobation, morale et sociale, pour ce qui se passe et qu'elle connait avec précision, mais cela ne modifie en rien son comportement.Plutôt que de suivre ici les décisions, les tourments, l'identité, le rapport au passé du criminel, concentrons le regard sur la professionnelle qui ouvre et clôt le film : l'avocate. Regardons plutôt les décisions successives de cette avocate, la représentation qui est donnée ce que l'avocat doit faire ou ne pas faire.

Il s'agit donc d'une avocate qui est choisie par ce client pour une qualité : sa capacité à donner dans l'ombre satisfaction à un client qui, au regard du Droit, ne le mérite pas (I). Un criminel avéré, chef d'un réseau de trafic de drogue, la choisit pour une activité où le secret doit être absolu et la dimension juridique peu présente. Dans les démarches dont elle est chargée, elle est confrontée à un médecin, qui ne développe pas la même conception qu'elle et lui conseille de conseiller à son client de ne pas persévérer (II). Dans son âme et conscience, elle désapprouve la corruption qui structure l'ensemble de la société et dont elle semble tout savoir, mais cela ne modifie pas son comportement (III). Pourtant in fine et sans qu'on l'y oblige elle prendra dans une image finale soin des enfants devenus soudainement orphelins (IV).

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► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "L'enjeu de la crédibilité des rapports de durabilité. Temps long, Simplicité et Stratégie" (The credibility of sustainability reports. Time, Simplicity and Strategy), concluding speech, in Rencontres de la Haute Autorité de l'Audit (H2A), 2025,  Mise en œuvre de la directive CSRD. Premiers constats et perspectives (Annual Manifestation of the French Audit Regulatory Body Haute Autorité de l'Audit - H2A, Implementation of the CSRD directive. Initial findings and outlook),, 2 July 2025, La Défense, 1pm-6pm

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This manifestation, which takes place face-to-face with simultaneous translation, begins with a presentation by Florence Peybernès, President of the French High Audit Authority ( Haute Autorité de l'Audit -H2A).

It is followed by 3 round-table discussions:

🪑🪑🪑 Round table 1: Feedback on the first appointments

🪑🪑🪑 Round table 2: Cross-perspectives between preparers, verifiers and stakeholders

🪑🪑🪑 Round table 3: Perspectives for CSRD

It is following on from this that the more legal, more judicial perspective, in an articulation between Ex Ante and Ex Post, will take shape.

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► English summary of the speech, as prepared : n view of the information available at the time of preparation for this event, the considerable interest aroused by the CSRD, and also its contestation, which led to its modification, is it counter-intuitive in view of the technicality of the remarks, the flood of criticism and the number of pages one reads, the impression of the weight, constraints and uselessness of the thing which would deprive companies of their freedom, but what emerges rather is Simplicity. Why: because the sustainability report is only a tool and it is the goal it serves that needs to be considered (more generally that's how the judge looks at it), a tool that serves a European strategy (Green Deal, sustainable finance). It is this strategy that needs to be identified, and the company has a free hand in it. What we are looking at the company in its contribution to this goal that is simple, a contribution which it can, in information that is admittedly standardised, draw the outlines of

Long-term and Strategy: Investors and stakeholders are not hostile to this approach: the key is the credibility of the information made available. Because Long-Term Thinking puts the future at the centre, and we don't know what that future will be. This essential element, which the courts have recalled in relation to Vigilance Obligation, must also be borne in mind, because it is first and foremost a question of providing information about the future.

To express the Information they want to give on this subject, companies need to understand the Goal of the European Plan (where Simplicity lies), to adjust their own plan to it (under the more familiar term of "Strategy") the councils and lawyers need to help them with this; to blend their strategies with the European strategy, to rely on the authorities and the auditors so that what they say is credible. Credibility is at the heart of it, which is why auditors are at the heart of it.

Because the only obligation they have is to say. Not to do. The CSRD should not be interpreted as imposing obligations on the companies subject to it to do things (such as the obligation of vigilance generates); the CSRD only imposes an obligation on them to say things. The CSRD imposes on them only an obligation to inform. While this may be onerous, standardised and certified, there is no obligation to do or disclose anything. Moreover, that is part of the company's own strategy, a strategy over which the company retains full control. In this respect, although standardised, the information is free and it is the credibility of the information that is crucial, but not participation in a plan whose terms would be written by the Authorities or the stakeholders.

Therefore, after learning from each other, it seems that there are three fairly simple things that are sometimes buried under the complication of the details accumulated and the violence of the arguments exchanged around the European Omnibus package. These three points will be developed at the end of the round-tables.

The first is the simplicity of the breadcrumb trail of credible, accessible information imposed by the European Union to put the Green Deal into practice. This breadcrumb trail is held in particular by the various regulators.

The second is the existence of a single, simple obligation on the part of the company: to say what it has done, is doing and plans to do, without being obliged to do anything in the European Action Plan (the CRSD does not forcibly enroll companies in the European action plan). This limitation to an obligation to say is essential. Its articulation with obligations to act, arising in particular from texts on Vigilance, or even identical terms, must not lead to confusion in qualifications.

The third is the benefit that the company derives from the articulation of a double "singular strategy": that of the European Union, which wants to build its future, a strategy of the Union to which it is free to contribute or not to contribute, and that of its own strategy which is articulated with the first and in which green gives way to many other colours according to the will of the company.

► English Summary of speech, as made with regard to what effectively was said during the 2 round tables:  During the event itself, I preferred to place myself rather in the direct continuation of what had been said.  In the fifteen minutes allotted, this was the reason for not proceeding in this way, but rather to highlight the fact that what has emerged, all these efforts, uncertainty, trial and error and goodwill to elaborate that went into drawing up the first sustainability reports, runs the risk of being erased because in retrospect, in 2 or 5 years' time, particularly if a lawsuit were be brought, we will have the impression that everything was self-evident, that we knew everything, that everything was clear and decided. And it's that future, which will be the future of the judge who will be called upon by a stakeholder, a regulator, a prosecutor, who always takes the past for granted, that we have to think about. We need to think in terms of evidence. Evidence of uncertainty. And always remember that the sustainability report is also a piece of evidence. Which will fuel liability claims, disputes over information, and so on.

Plus encore, parce que le report de durabilité n'est qu'un outil, pour une stratégie, qui est une stratégie d'ensemble, où la CSRD n'est qu'un élément du puzzle, des éléments du rapport de durabilité peuvent être pris pour être utilisés plus tard pour alimenter d'autres documents et rapports, et d'autres litiges. Cela est notamment le cas du plan de vigilance, puisque la cartographie des risques est souvent commune au rapport de durabilité et au plan de vigilance, ce qui est logique puisque la CSRD et la CS3D se font miroir dans le grand plan d'action de l'Union que constitue le Pacte vert. Mais cela est amplifié par les entreprises, qui parfois confondent l'un et l'autre, dans la présentation même au sein du rapport de gestion. Il est pourtant essentielle de distinguer nettement l'obligation de dire (rapport de durabilité) et l'obligation de faire (plan de vigilance). L'ambiguïté des "engagements" accroît cela. Il est essentiel de veiller à un travail ex ante entre expert de la gestion, de la finance, de l'audit et du droit pour éviter que les points de contact ne se transforment en confusions, maintenant et /ou plus tard, confusions qui pourraient être préjudiciables à tous.

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► Référence complète : J.B. Racine, F. Siiriairnen, S. Menétrey, Droit du commerce international, Dalloz, coll. "Cours Dalloz-Série Droit privé", 4ière éd., 2025,  410 p.

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► Présentation de l'ouvrage : Ce Cours expose toutes les règles particulières du commerce international (vente, transport, distribution, etc.). Le droit du commerce international est devenu une discipline mise au cœur du processus de mondialisation de l'économie. Elle est donc en pleine expansion. Ce n'est pas seulement une branche du droit international privé.

Le droit du commerce international présente une autonomie certaine par son esprit, ses méthodes et son objet. Les sources de ce droit sont particulières dans la mesure où il fait la part belle aux usages du commerce international, plus généralement désignés sous l'appellation de lex mercatoria. Les acteurs du commerce international sont variés : il s'agit bien entendu des sociétés mais aussi des États . Le particularisme du droit du commerce international se situe aussi au stade des opérations du commerce international : la vente, le transport, la distribution, etc. obéissent à des règles particulières, le plus souvent des règles matérielles de source internationale. Enfin, l'importance et l'originalité du droit du commerce international se manifestent dans le recours à l'arbitrage. En tant que justice privée, l'arbitrage est aujourd'hui devenu le mode de résolution de droit commun des litiges du commerce international.

L'ouvrage s'adresse aux étudiants qui découvrent la matière ainsi qu'aux universitaires et praticiens. Il allie connaissances théoriques et orientations pratiques. Il ouvre sur une vision différente du droit, c'est-à-dire un droit partiellement dissocié de l'État. Il met aussi l'accent sur la nécessité de bâtir un droit répondant aux défis de la mondialisation.

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📚Consulter l'ensemble de la collection dans laquelle l'ouvrage est publié

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📚Sont directement corrélés à cet ouvrage :

🕴️B. Haftel, 📕Droit international privé

🕴️D. Mainguy, 📕Contrats spéciaux

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► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, member of the jury for Annika Bauch's thesis, Le droit de l'entreprise à l'épreuve de la compliance (Company Law put to the test of Compliance), University of Toulouse, 5 June 2025, 2-5pm. 

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🪑🪑🪑Other members of the jury :  

🕴🏻Lukas Rass-Masson, Professor at Toulouse-Capitole University, thesis supervisor

🕴🏻Sandrine Tisseyre,  Professor at Toulouse-Capitole University, 

🕴🏻Marc-Philippe Weller,  Professor at the University of Heidelberg, Germany

🕴🏻Caroline Coupet, Professor at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II)

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► Presentation of the thesis: The thesis is based on French, American and German research. It is based on two perspectives.

The first part of the thesis describes the way in which Business Law  feeds into Compliance, since it is within Business Law (and more particularly Company Law and the legal rules governing corporate bodies) that Compliance, which the author presented  to have originated in the United States, has transformed the way in which companies must be managed, having to take into account the extra-financial dimension of their activity, which modifies the very notion of social interest and leads to the integration of stakeholders into the corporate functioning.

The second part of the thesis looks at the way in which Compliance has transformed Corporate Law, bringing with it new requirements, such as consideration of risks, regulatory mechanisms and ethical concerns, with the company itself becoming a vehicle for Compliance. This is achieved in particular by inserting compliance clauses into contracts, which is an appropriate but nevertheless limited tool for this compliance goal.

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At the end of her defence, the candidate was awarded the degree of Doctor of Law and was informally congratulated by her jury on the quality of her work.

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