Oct. 2, 2023

Conferences

♾️follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law

____

► Full ReferenceM.-A. Frison-Roche, Participation à la Table ronde "Normes de Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RSE & Devoir de Vigilance)" (Participation in the Round Table "Corporate Social Responsibility Standards (CSR & Duty of Vigilance)"), in Fribourg University, Journée du Droit, Fribourg University, Pérolles site, room C230, October 2, 2023.

____

🧮see the full programme of this event

🎥​watch the video of this event (in French)

____

🌐read the report written in French with photos, tags and links on LinkedIn and also with links to each the speech

____

► General presentation of the event : This conference, build around 4 presentations and a debate between the speakers and then with the audience, aimed at explaining and understanding this fundamental movement and the new texts that express it in Switzerland, even if it is French law, such as the so-called 'Vigilance' law of 2017 and the draft European CS3D directive, because on the one hand it is a movement that begins with legal technique and on the other hand the texts in question are extraterritorial in scope, if only because of the notion of 'value chain'. In the first part of this round table, and to set the scene, I will outline the origin and content of the French 'Vigilance' law, the way in which the draft directive draws heavily on it, its relationship with Compliance Law, of which it constitutes the 'advanced point', and the decisive role it gives to the courts, in the general movement of the jurisdictionalisation of compliance. The purpose of this is to allow the discussion to get underway.

🕴️Idris Abdelkhalek, PhD candidate and lawyer, introduced the speakers and led the debate between them and the audience. He took questions from the audience on the intensity of the obligation weighing on companies, in particular between civil liability and criminal liability, between the obligation of means and the obligation of result, and on the way in which the duty of vigilance is applied to specific sectors such as defence.

____

► Presentation of my speech : the subject of which was Presentation of French Vigilance law, European perspective and European Compliance System. My presentation was divided into four points. Firstly, I outlined the state of Law in France, in the novelty represented by the 2017 law known as the "Vigilance" law, whose principles are simple and strong, principles that are situated in the aims pursued, and the way in which this law inspires what is currently being negotiated: the CS3D Directive.

Secondly, I stressed the need for companies to master these often technically complicated corpus, especially if we take into account the link between Vigilance and the CSRD directive on sustainability reporting and extra-financial information. 

Thirdly, I have shown that an overall understanding can nevertheless be achieved, and that the technical nature of the 'tools' is better mastered if we place the duty of vigilance within Compliance Law, of which it constitutes the 'advanced point'. All of this anchors its legal normativity in the 'Monumental Goals' it serves, which in Europe are humanistic, since the aim is to protect, now but above all in the future because it is a branch of ex ante Law, the human beings involved in the systems (banking, finance, energy, digital, climate, etc.).

Fourthly, I emphasised that this understanding enables everyone to play their part: political and public authorities, businesses and stakeholders. Even more, and at the heart of the matter, the judge plays an essential role, even in countries with so-called 'continental' Law. I have used current cases as examples. This is just the beginning, and judges need to train, specialise and work in dialogue to achieve this.

____

► Presentation of the other speakers contributions :

🕴️Marion Paradas, Ambassador of France to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, opened the conference and gave a general presentation of the theme. Ambassador Marion Paradas presented the international challenge represented by Law, illustrated here by the duty of vigilance. She emphasised that this is a major issue, both now and in the future, for Swiss companies and French companies based in Switzerland, particularly as this duty extends throughout the "value chain" and in view of the CS3D directive, which will also have consequences for both.

🕴️Isabelle Chabloz Waidacher, Professor at the Faculty of Law in Fribourg and holder of the Chair of Economic Law at the University of Fribourg, gave a Presentation of Swiss Law. In particular, she emphasised the state of Swiss Law, which could have gone further than the 2017 French law known as the "Vigilance" law if the popular initiative reference had led to the adoption of a law, and which currently focuses more on information and transparency obligations, with CSR taking over from there. But she stresses that the reality of value chains will force Swiss companies to take into account the requirements of the European directive currently being adopted.

🕴️Renaud Roussel, Managing Director of Colas Switzerland, presented an entrepreneurial view of the subject. He began by outlining the concrete steps taken by his industrial group in Switzerland and around the world to implement its commitments to protect the environment, for example by ensuring the proper use of materials used in road construction. He also stressed the importance of human rights, particularly in labour relations, in the context of CSR and vigilance. He went on to point out that it was not always easy for a large company to meet its own requirements, or the requirements imposed on it by the law, because in the construction and public works sector in particular it is often small companies that are competing, competitors who do not bear the costs of such obligations.

________

July 5, 2023

Interviews

♾️follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

 Full Reference:  M.-A. Frison-Roche et A. Seban, "Compliance : les cours suprêmes s’emparent de la question de ses enjeux juridictionnels" ("Compliance : the Supreme Courts take up the issue of its jurisdictional implications"), interview with Olivia Dufour, Actu-Juridique, 5 July 2023.

____

💬read the interview (in French)

____

 Presentation of the interview by the journal (in French): "Le 2 juin dernier s’est tenu au Conseil d’État un colloque fondateur sur le rôle du juge dans la compliance. Le professeur Marie-Anne Frison-Roche et le conseiller d’État Alain Seban, qui ont tout deux contribué aux débats, ont accepté de commenter les principaux enseignements des travaux de cette journée."

____

► Questions asked (in French): 

  • Le colloque « De la régulation à la compliance, quel rôle pour les juges » qui s’est tenu au Conseil d’État le 2 juin dernier a rassemblé juges civils et administratifs. En quoi le juge administratif est-il concerné par la compliance qui semble plutôt une affaire d’entreprises et donc de justice civile et commerciale ? 
  • ​Vincent Vigneau, président de la chambre commerciale de la Cour de cassation rappelle que la compliance a plutôt vocation à éviter le juge en se situant ex ante, pourtant on découvre que le juge lui-même accepte de plus en plus de se prononcer en ex ante… qu’en est-il ? 
  • Quel peut donc être le rôle du juge dans la compliance ? Peut-il contribuer à faire émerger un droit de la compliance et à l’harmoniser ?  ​
  • ​François Ancel semble considérer que le rôle juge va devoir adapter son office à la compliance, il évoque trois concepts : téléologique, soutenabilité et efficacité…
  • Le juge dispose-t-il en l’état de tous les outils nécessaires ? Si tel n’est pas le cas, que faut-il créer ?
  • En quoi le dialogue des juges, civil/administratif, national/européen, national/international, est-il important ?
  • Que veut dire F. Ancel quand il déclare que le juge doit évoluer du constat à la trajectoire ?
  • Existe-t-il des domaines où la compliance entre en conflit avec des principes processuels, par exemple le principe de légalité des peines ?
  • En quoi la notion de « buts monumentaux », que vous avez créée en 2016, a-t-elle trouvé sa place dans le droit ?

________

June 21, 2023

Publications

♾️follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law

____

► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-RocheConditions required to promote the "contractualisation" of the Law, Working Paper, June 2023.

____

🎤This Working Paper has been done as a basis for the closing conference of the colloquia La contractualisation du droit. Acte II, organised by the Société de législation comparée (SLC) and the Procuradoria Geral do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (PGE-RJ), on 19, 20 and 21 June 2023.

____

📝It is also the basis of the article that will be published.

____

► English Summary of the Working Paper : 

____

🔓read the Working Paper⤵️

June 19, 2023

Conferences

♾️ follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche sur LinkedIn

♾️subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, participation in the panel "Vigilance (due diligence)", in International Law Association (ILA)150th Anniversary Symposium of the ILA/ADI, Paris, 19 June 2023.

____

🧮See the full programme of this event

________

May 11, 2023

Publications

♾️ follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️ subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law

____

► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "La loi, la compliance, le contrat et le juge : places et alliances" ("Regulations, Compliance, Contracts, and Judges: places and alliances"), Chronique of Compliance Law, D. 2023, p. 906-908.

____

📝read the article (in French)

____

► English summary of this article: Compliance Law brings together the forces of regulations, contracts, and judges' decisions to achieve monumental goals so that in the future human beings will not be crushed by systems but will instead benefit from them. In this teleological and systemic branch of Law, legislators, regulators, companies, stakeholders, and judges must find their place. This can lead to bonds of obedience, a vision of 'conformity'. But conformity is only a tool of compliance, whose vigilance is the advanced point of this new branch of Law in which the alliance makes it possible to find solutions, the contract being then a usual mode of elaborating means under the control of the judge.

____

🚧read the bilingual Working Paper which is the basis of this article, with additional developments, technical references and hyperlinks

____

📚read the other articles published in this chronique of Compliance Law published in the Recueil Dalloz

________

May 11, 2023

Thesaurus : Doctrine

► Référence complète : M. Brenaut, "Les fonctions sans le statut : de quelques hypothèses où le parquetier se fait juge pénal", Droit pénal, n°5, mai 2023, p. 17-21.

____

► Résumé de l'article (fait par l'auteur) : "Le parquetier est-il devenu un juge pénal comme les autres ? La question posée par les professeurs Bonfils et Safi nous inspire une réponse en deux temps : oui, le parquetier ressemble à s'y méprendre à un juge pénal (juge d'instruction ou juge de condamnation), du moins si l'on considère certaines attributions qui lui sont désormais conférées ; non, il n'est pas, pour l'heure, un « juge comme les autres », au regard de son statut".

____

🦉Cet article est accessible en texte intégral pour les personnes inscrites aux enseignements de la professeure Marie-Anne Frison-Roche

________

April 17, 2023

Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation

♾️ follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️ subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law

____

► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Dans les causes systémiques : "délibérer" plutôt que "se disputer"" ("In systemic causes: 'deliberate' rather than 'argue'"), Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation, 17 April 2023.

____

📧Read by freely subscribing other news of the Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation

____

🔴To deal with "systemic causes", including systemic cases of compliance, move from "argument" to "deliberation" from the start

Compliance Law involves systems, for example banking, financial, digital, health, etc. When a dispute is brought before a judge, this dimension remains, whether before a judge of the Law or a judge of the merits, whether before a civil, criminal, commercial, administrative or European judge, etc. The judge's office must be adapted accordingly. And this is in the process of being done.

____

📧read the article ⤵️ 

April 6, 2023

Interviews

♾️follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

 Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche & M. Boissavy, "Avocat et droits de la défense dans les enquêtes internes et la justice négociée" ("Attorneys and rights of the defence in internal investigations and negociated justice"), interview with Marina Brillié-Champaux, Dalloz Actu Étudiant, 6 April 2023.

____

💬read the interview (in French)

____

 Presentation of the interview by the journal (in French): "Futurs avocats, c’est à vous que s’adresse cette interview de Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, agrégée des Facultés de Droit, directrice du Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) et de Matthieu Boissavy, avocat aux barreaux de Paris et de New York, médiateur, membre du Conseil National des Barreaux, vice-président de la commission Libertés et droits de l’Homme. Les 20 et 21 avril 2023 le Conseil national des barreaux, sous l’impulsion de ses commissions Libertés et droits de l’Homme et Droit et Entreprise, organise un colloque sur le thème « Avocat et droits de la défense dans les enquêtes internes et la justice négociée ». Si vous êtes déjà dans la profession, il se peut que leurs réponses vous intéressent pour le respect du droit à la justice !"

____

► Questions asked (in French): 

  • En quoi consistent les enquêtes internes ?
     
  • Qu’appelle-t-on la justice négociée ?
     
  • Qu’attendez-vous de ce colloque ?

 

Le questionnaire de Désiré Dalloz

  • Quel est votre meilleur souvenir d’étudiant ?
  • Quels sont votre héros et votre héroïne de fiction préférés ?
  • Quel est votre droit de l’Homme préféré ?

________

April 4, 2023

Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation

♾️ follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️ subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

► Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Face aux clauses de Compliance : le Juge (colloque du 7 avril 2023)" ("Facing Compliance clauses: the Judge (symposium of 7 April 2023)"), Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation, 4 April 2023.

____

📧Read by freely subscribing other news of the Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation

____

Compliance Law is starting to be known; mainly through two blocks:

Firstly the spectacular sanctions by which it made as its entry in Europe by the "BNPP sanction" of 2014.

🔴M.-A. Frison-Roche, 📝Le Droit de la Compliance, 2016

Secondly, the accumulation of tools, legal and non-legal, with which companies have equipped themselves: plans to detect and prevent breaches, internal investigations, mapping, ad hoc training, etc.

🔴M.-A. Frison-Roche (dir), 📘Compliance Tools, 2021

 

But what is the "compliance obligation" in the name of which these fearful and heavy sanctions are pronounced and these new and multiple tools are put in place?

We do not have a very clear idea.

That is why the Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and its partner universities have chosen to focus on the topic of the Compliance Obligation in a series of symposiums held in 2023.

🔴JoRC, 🏗️L'obligation de compliance, 2023

 

It could be said that the company is "obliged" by Compliance because it is obliged by the Law, as Compliance would only mean obeying "regulations" (a term used to describe everything that is obligatory, from the Constitution to ethical charters, etc.). The English vocabulary "comply with" suggests this, as does the Chinese practice of Compliance. The difference would then only be the fact that the company shows its "stakeholders" that it does in fact respect all these texts that commit it.

 

But the practice and the jurist remember that what is sometimes considered as the heart of the Law, since Roman Law, is Obligations Law, having as its object Contract Law and Tort Law.

 

Yet, in practice, companies have put contracts concerning compliance everywhere, and they are relatively little studied.

🔴M.-A. Frison-Roche, 📝Contrat de compliance, clauses de compliance, 2023

These may be entire contracts whose very purpose is to entrust another with the task of fulfilling all or part of the compliance obligation incumbent on the company, with regard to personal data.

These may be clauses inserted in contracts with another purpose, for instance sales contracts in a value chain, where the company stipulates that the other company will also ensure compliance obligations for itself or for the other company, e.g. detect and prevent corruption, be vigilant, etc.

Contract Law has already taken on compliance in practice, especially in long-term economic transactions with an international dimension.

The judge has always been present in Obligation Law.

 

How is the triangle articulated: Judge - Compliance - Obligation?

 

The Judge has been present from the outset in the development of the Compliance Obligation through criminal liability, administrative liability and the obligation for the company to become a judge of itself, particularly through internal investigations.

🔴M.-A. Frison-Roche (dir.), 📘Compliance Jurisdictionalisation, 2023

 

The Judge is also present through Obligation Law stricto sensu, first of all through liability, which is transformed under the effect of the compliance system, which operates more in the logic of "accountability" and generates legal mechanisms of "ex ante liability".

🔴M.-A. Frison-Roche, 📝La responsabilité Ex Ante, pilier du Droit de la Compliance, 2022

 

In contractual matters, the Judge will intervene, in particular with regard to the stipulations which, in the contracts which form the architecture of the value chains, ensure the efficacy (and no longer only the effectiveness) of the duty of vigilance.

The Judge will then intervene under the French law of 2017, known as the "Vigilance Law",

🔴M.-A. Frison-Roche, 🚧Vigilance, Buts Monumentaux de la Compliance et "Société vigilante", 2023

but also, because the Judge is the "judge of the contract", he will intervene as such.

 

To identify the Obligation of Compliance, 

🔴M.-A. Frison-Roche (dir.), 📘Compliance Obligation, 2024

it is therefore necessary to analyse the way in which the Judge apprehends or should in the future apprehend contracts and compliance clauses.

 

That's why, in the above-mentioned cycle of symposiums, a symposium is being held on 7 April 2023. It is co-organised by the Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and the Law Faculty of Perpignan, and has been designed under the scientific direction of Walid Chaiehloudj and Marie-Anne Frison-Roche.

🧮Le juge face aux clauses et aux contrats de compliance (The Judge facing clauses and contrats of compliance)

________

March 23, 2023

Publications

♾️ follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️ subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

 Full reference: M.A. Frison-Roche, Thinking and using Vigilance through its Compliance Monumental Goals, Working Paper, March 2023.

____

🎤 This Working Paper has been done as basis for the  introduction of the colloquia La société vigilante ("Vigilant Company") at the Aix-Marseille University on March 24, 2023 (conference given in French) 

____

📝It is also the basis of the article that introduces a special issue on La société vigilante

____

 Summary of the Working Paper: The concept of "Vigilance" is difficult to define. Probably because even as it is becoming a standard, it has just entered the legal systems. And what a splash it is! To understand it, it must not be isolated. Neither in the only French law attracting all the attention, all the fears, all the hopes, the so-called Loi Vigilance ("Vigilance Law"), nor in the only technical mechanisms that make Vigilance a reality.

Vigilance is itself only a part of a deeper movement, of which it is the advanced point, allowing us to anticipate the evolution of the whole: Compliance Law.

In this light and for not getting lost in it, because the stakes are so high that one quickly loses the measure of things, with each party lashing out at the others, so Vigilance, the key element of Compliance, requires above all alliances,  that we can first examine the entry of Vigilance into the legal system and then understand it through the Monumental Goals which give the measure of it, i.e. both the scope and the limit, each one having to act within the margins that are theirs, States, companies, stakeholders, and judges.

A Will for tomorrow can then emerge today, carried by Europe.

____

🔓read the Working Paper⤵️

March 1, 2023

Interviews

♾️follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

♾️subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

 Full reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, , F. Ancel, N. Roret, "Les juges vont être de plus en plus présents dans le droit de la compliance" ("Judges will be more and more involved in Compliance Law"), interview with Olivia Dufour, Actu-Juridique, 1st March 2023.

____

💬read the interview (in French)

____

 Presentation of the interview by the journal (in French) : "À l’instigation du professeur Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, l’École nationale de la magistrature (ENM) a proposé pour la première fois début février une formation en compliance à destination des magistrats et des avocats. François Ancel, conseiller la Cour de cassation, Nathalie Roret, avocate et directrice de l’ENM et Marie-Anne Frison-Roche plaident d’une seule voix pour le renforcement du rôle des acteurs judiciaires dans la compliance."

____

► Questions asked (in French): 

  • D’où est venue l’idée d’aborder ce droit en cours d’émergence qui semble encore très confidentiel ?
  • En effet, on croit souvent savoir ce qu’est la compliance, en la confondant avec la conformité, pouvez-vous expliquer ce qui les distingue ?
  • On constate, en lisant le programme de la formation, que toutes les branches du droit sont concernées par la compliance depuis le droit des sociétés jusqu’au pénal en passant par les contrats et la responsabilité. Pouvez-vous nous donner des exemples ?
  • Comment se redistribuent les rôles entre les avocats, les juges et les entreprises dans cette nouvelle configuration qu’est la compliance ?
  • En quoi est-ce important pour les magistrats d’appréhender ce nouvel univers ?
  • Ces transformations sont-elles cantonnées à la compliance ou peuvent-elles sortir de son champ ?
  • Par exemple qu’en est-il de la question très controversée du rôle de l’avocat à l’égard du juge ?
  • Avez-vous constaté lors de cette formation une amélioration du dialogue entre les différents acteurs ?
  • Cette formation va-t-elle être instituée de manière permanente dans la formation des magistrats et des avocats ? Une autre manifestation est-elle prévue ?

________

Feb. 2, 2023

Organization of scientific events

► Full reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, co-organisation de la formation ENM Droit de la Compliance, co-organisé entre l'École nationale de la magistrature et le Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC), les 2 et 3 février 2023. 

____

 General presentation of the course: The two-day session is designed for magistrates and practicing lawyers who are not necessarily specialized, to enable them, based on concrete cases, to understand the issues, objectives, and methods of compliance mechanisms in companies, including the increasing judicialization and the supranational dimension strengthen, modifying the office of the judge and the role of lawyers.

The analysis is made from the angle of Civil Law (contract, tort), Company Law, Labor Law and Criminal Law, but also governance, financial markets, regulatory, climate and digital issues.

____

► Brief bibliography

____

► Will speak

🎤François Ancel, Judge at the Première chambre civile de la Cour de cassation ( First civil chamber of the Court of Cassation)

🎤Guillaume Beaussonie, Professor at Toulouse 1 Capitole University 

🎤Jean-François Bohnert, Procureur national financier 

🎤Gilles Briatta, Group General Secretary of the Groupe Société Générale 

🎤Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, Director of the Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC)

🎤Cécile Granier, senior lecturer at Jean-Moulin Lyon 3 University 

🎤Jean-Michel Hayat, Premier Président honoraire de la Cour d'appel de Paris

🎤Christophe Ingrain, Avocat à la Cour 

🎤Anne-Valérie Le Fur, Professor at Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University 

🎤Stanislas Pottier, Senior Advisor to the General Management of Amundi

🎤Jean-Baptiste Racine, Professeur à l'Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II)

🎤Juliette Thery, Membre du Collège de l'Arcom

____

Lire une présentation détaillée de la manifestation ci-dessous⤵️

Feb. 2, 2023

Publications

🌐♾️ follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche sur LinkedIn

🌐subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

 Full Reference: M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Le juge, l'obligation de compliance et l'entreprise. Le système probatoire de la Compliance" ("The judge, the compliance obligation, and the company. The Compliance probationary system"), in M.-A. Frison-Roche (ed.), La juridictionnalisation de la Compliancecoll. "Régulations & Compliance", Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and Dalloz, 2023, p 409-442.

____

📝read the article (in French)

____

🚧read the bilingual Working Paper which is the basis of this article, with additional developments, technical references and hyperlinks 

____

📕read a general presentation of the book, La juridictionnalisation de la Compliance, in which this article is published

____

 Summary of the article (done by the Journal of Regulation & Compliance): the article aims to identify the link that must be established between the company in its relationship with the compliance obligations it assumes and the judges to whom it is accountable in this respect: this link is established by evidence. The evidentiary system of proof has yet to be constructed, and it is the purpose of this long study to lay the groundwork. 

To this end, the article begins with a description of what is designated here as the "probatory square" in a "probatory system" that is superimposed on the system of rules of substantive legal system. This is all the more important because Compliance seems to be in frontal collision in its very principles with the general principles of the evidentiary system, in particular because it seems that the company would have to prove the existence of the Law or that it would have to bear in a definitive way the burden of proving the absence of violation, which seems to be contrary not only to the presumption of innocence but also to the principle of the freedom of action and of undertaking. In order to re-articulate Compliance Law, the obligations of compliance which legitimately weigh on the company, it is necessary to return to the probatory system specific to Compliance, so that it remains within the Rule of Law. This presupposes the adoption of a substantial definition of Compliance, which is not only compliance with the rules, which is only a minimal dimension, but implies that Compliance Law should be defined by the Monumental Goals on which the public authorities and the companies are in substantial alliance.

The evidentiary system of principle makes play between its four summits that are the burden of proof, the objects of proof this evidentiary square of principle, between the burden of proof, the means of proof and their admissibility. Compliance Law does not fall outside this evidential square, thus marking its full membership of the Rule of Law

In order to lay the foundations of the evidential system specific to Compliance Law, the first part of the article identifies the objects of proof which are specific to it, by distinguishing between the structural devices, on the one hand, and the expected behaviours, on the other. The first involves proving that the structures required to achieve the Monumental Goals of Compliance have actually been put in place. The object of proof is then the effectiveness of this implementation, which presents the effectiveness of the system. As far as behavioral obligations are concerned, the object of proof is the efforts made by the company to obtain them, the principle of proportionality governing the establishment of this proof, while the systemic efficiency of the whole reinforces the evidential system. However, the wisdom of evidence lies in the fact that, even though the principle remains that of freedom of evidence, the company must establish the effectiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness of the whole, independently of the burden of proof.

The second part of the article concerns those who bear the burden of proof in Compliance Law. The latter places the burden of proof on the company in principle, in view of its legal obligations. This burden comes from the legal origin of the obligations, which blocks the "round of the burden of proof". But in the interference of the different vertices of the evidentiary square, the question becomes more delicate when it comes to determining the contours of the compliance obligations that the company must perform. Moreover, the burden of proof may itself be the subject of proof, just as the company's performance of its legal obligations may also be the subject of contracts, which brings us back to the evidentiary system ordinarily applicable to contractual obligations. The situation is different when it comes to a "compliance contract" or when it comes to one or more compliance stipulations, concepts that are still not very well developed in Contract Law. 

Furthermore, as all branches of Law belong to a legal system governed by the Rule of Law, other branches of law interfere and modify the methods and solutions of proof. This is the case when the fact, which is the object of proof, can give rise to a sanction, the Law of repression imposing its own solutions in the matter of the burden of proof. 

In the third part of the article, the relevant means of proof in Compliance Law are examined, used in that Compliance Law is above all a branch of Law whose object is on the one hand information and on the other hand the Future. Open questions remain, such as whether companies could be forced by the Judge to build technologies to invent new means of proof. To show that they are indeed achieving the Monumental Goals they are charged with. 

In the fourth part, the vital character of the pre-constitution of evidence is shown, which is the reflection of the Ex-Ante nature of Compliance Law: evidence must be pre-constituted to avoid the very prospect of having to use it, by finding all the means to establish the effectiveness, efficiency and even the effectiveness of the various Compliance Tools. 

If companies do all this methodically, the Compliance evidence system will be established, in harmony with the general evidence system, Compliance Law and the Rule of Law.

________

Feb. 2, 2023

Thesaurus : Doctrine

 Full Reference: O. Douvreleur, "Compliance et juge du droit" ("Compliance and Judge ruling only on points of Law"), in M.-A. Frison-Roche (ed.), La juridictionnalisation de la Compliancecoll. "Régulations & Compliance", Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and Dalloz, 2023, p. 465-471. 

____

📕read a general presentation of the book, La juridictionnalisation de la Compliancein which this article is published

____

 Summary of the article (done by the Journal of Regulation & Compliance): Compliance maintains with the judge complex relations, and even more with the judge ruling only on points of Law  (in France, the Court de Cassation in the judicial order, the one who, in principle, does not know the facts that he leaves to the sovereign appreciation of the judges ruling on the substance of the disputes. At first glance, compliance is a technique internalised in companies and the place occupied by negotiated justice techniques leave little room for intervention by the judge ruling only on points of Law

However, his role is intended to develop, in particular with regard to the duty of vigilance or in the articulation between the different branches of Law when compliance meets Labor Law, or even in the adjustment between American Law and the other legal systems, especially French legal system. The way in which the principle of Proportionality will take place in Compliance Law is also a major issue for the judge ruling only on points of Law.

________

Updated: Feb. 2, 2023 (Initial publication: March 31, 2021)

Thesaurus : Doctrine

 Full Reference: J.-B. Racine, "Compliance et Arbitrage. Essai de problématisation" ("Compliance and Arbitration : Problematisation", in M.-A. Frison-Roche (ed.), La juridictionnalisation de la Compliancecoll. "Régulations & Compliance", Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and Dalloz, 2023, p. 265-279. 

____

📕read a general presentation of the book, La juridictionnalisation de la Compliance, in which this article is published

____

 The summary below describes an article that follows an intervention in the scientific manifestation Compliance et Arbitrage, co-organised by the Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and the University Panthéon-Assas (Paris II). This conference was designed by Marie-Anne Frison-Roche and Jean-Baptiste Racine, scientific co-directors, and took place in Paris II University on March 31, 2021. 

In the book, the article will be published in Title II, devoted to: Compliance et Arbitrage.

____

 Summary of the article (done by the author): Under the consideration of the "Compliance Juridictionalisation", it is necessary to study in the links between Compliance and Arbitration. The arbitrator is a judge, he is even the natural judge of international trade. Arbitration is therefore naturally intended to meet compliance which transforms the action of companies in an international context. However, the links between compliance and arbitration are not obvious. It is not a question of providing firm and definitive answers, but rather, and above all, of asking questions. We are at the start of reflection on this topic, which explains why there is, for the time being, little legal literature on the subject of the relationship between Compliance and Arbitration. It doesn't mean there aren't connections.  Quite simply, these relations may not have come to light, or they are in the making. We should research  the existing or potential bridges between two worlds that have long gravitated separately: Compliance on the one hand, Arbitration on the other. The central question is: is or can the arbitrator be a compliance judge, and, if so, how?

In any event, the Arbitrator is thus in contact with matters requiring the methods, tools and logic of Compliance. In addition to the prevention and suppression of corruption, three examples can be given.

  • Arbitration has been facing economic sanctions (notably embargoes) for several years. The link with Compliance is obvious, insofar as texts providing for economic sanctions are often accompanied by compliance mechanisms, as in the United States. The arbitrator is concerned as to the fate he reserves in the treatment of the dispute with the measures of economic sanctions.
  • Competition Law is a branch that came into contact with Arbitration from the end of the 1980s. The arbitrability of this type of dispute is now established and arbitrators apply it regularly. At the same time, Compliance has also entered Competition Law, admittedly more strongly in the United States than in France. The existence, absence or insufficiency of a compliance program aimed at preventing violations of the competition rules are thus circumstances which may assist the arbitrator in the assessment of anti-competitive behavior.
  • Environmental Law is also concerned. There is environmental Compliance, for example with regard to the French law of March 27, 2017 on the duty of vigilance. Companies are thus responsible for participating in the protection of the environment, by internalizing these concerns in their internal and external operations (in their sphere of influence). As soon as an arbitrator is in charge for settling a dispute relating to Environmental Law, the question of the relationship to Compliance, from this angle, naturally arises.

It is therefore the multiple interactions between Compliance and Arbitration, actual or potential, which are thus open.

________

Nov. 18, 2022

Conferences

♾️ suivre Marie-Anne Frison-Roche sur LinkedIn

♾️s'abonner à la Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

► Référence complète : M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Le juge, tiers régulateur des obligations contractuelles de compliance", in Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) et Université de Nîmes, Laboratoire CHROME, Compliance et Contrat : les acteurs et leurs stratégies, Nîmes, 18 novembre 2022.

____

🏗️Cette conférence prend place dans le cycle de colloques, organisé par le Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) et les Universités qui sont ses partenaires académiques, pendant l'année 2022/2023 autour du thème général L'obligation de compliance.

____

🎤 consulter la synthèse également faite de ce colloque

____

🧮Consulter le programme complet de cette manifestation

____

🚧lire le document de travail servant de base à cette conférence

____

📝Cette conférence sera la base d'un article, à paraître dans un ouvrage qui en résultera, dans sa version française, dans la collection 📚Régulation & Compliance coéditée entre le  JoRC et les Editions Dalloz, et dans sa version anglaise, dans la collection 📚Compliance & Regulation coéditée entre le JoRC et les Editions Bruylant.

____

Nov. 12, 2022

Publications

♾️ suivre Marie-Anne Frison-Roche sur LinkedIn

♾️ s'abonner à la Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

► Référence complète : M.-A. Frison-Roche, Automated Compliance, a pertinent tool for Compliance Law, the whole, document de travail, novembre 2022.

____

📝Ce document de travail sert de base à une participation à un débat sur "Automated Compliance : "the" solution or "a" solution?, qui déroule dans le Sommet global de Gaia-X  le 17 novembre 2022.  

____

Résumé du document de travail : s'appuyant sur la présentation préalablement faite au débat par un membre de la Commission européenne, il s'agit de souligner trois éléments qui montrent que l' Automated Compliance (ou Compliance by design) est à la fois un outil central, mais qu'il n'est un outil du Droit de la Compliance dont il ne saurait remplir par sa seule performance technologique toutes les fonctions dans un Etat de Droit.

En premier lieu, l'Union européenne semble en difficulté lorsqu'elle veut tout à la fois bâtir un système juridique qui lui est propre sur la base de Lois dont chacune est la pièce d'un gigantesque puzzle pour obtenir une industrie pérenne et autonome dans une économie numérique mondiale totalement renouvelée, ce qui fait peser sur les entreprises une charge considérable d'intégration de toutes ces règles du jeu, tout en affirmant qu'il faut alléger la charge que la "réglementation" fait peser sur elles.

En second lieu, la meilleure solution pour résoudre cette ambition contradictoire est effectivement dans la technologique, les algorithmes intégrant directement les réglementations. Mais plus encore, l'ensemble de ces textes reposent sur une autonomie laissée en Ex Ante aux entreprises européennes pour s'organiser entre elles afin de concrétiser les "buts monumentaux" que l'Union européenne a décidé d'atteindre, dont la réalisation d'un cloud souverain est au centre.

Ainsi la distinction et l'articulation d'un "Droit de la Compliance", défini par ces "buts monumentaux", dont lequel l'intelligence artificielle est un outil, le "tout" (Compliance Law) et la "partie" (Automated Compliance) est essentielle.

En troisième lieu, cette distinction et articulation est non seulement bénéfice mais elle est obligatoire. En effet, même si le Droit de la Compliance constitue une branche du Droit, elle fonctionne dans le système juridique générale, qui ne fonctionne que par l'esprit des textes, les outils algorithmiques ne capturant que la lettre de ceux-ci. Ces tribunaux sont et seront au cœur du Droit de la Compliance, le cas Schrems l'a bien montré. C'est pourquoi la Technologie et le Droit doivent travailler ensemble, et davantage à l'avenir, notamment parce qu'un outil pour l'effectivité du Droit ne pourra jamais rendre compte de la vie même du système juridique.

________

🔓Lire ci-dessous les développements⤵️

 

Oct. 5, 2022

Interviews

🌐suivre Marie-Anne Frison-Roche sur LinkedIn

🌐s'abonner à la Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

 Référence complète : M.-A. Frison-Roche, " Youporn : Le Droit doit se renouveler face à la transformation du monde par l'espace numérique", entretien avec Olivia Dufour, Actu-juridique, 5 octobre 2022.

___

💬Lire l'entretien dans son intégralité

____

Lire l'entretien précédent : 💬L'efficacité de la Compliance illustrée par l'affaire Youporn

____

 Présentation de l'entretien par le journal : "Comment parvenir à bloquer efficacement l’accès des mineurs aux contenus pornographiques sur internet ? C’est à cette difficile question que s’est attaquée l'Arcom (Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique). Avec pour l’instant un succès mitigé. Début septembre, alors que le régulateur demandait au juge de bloquer les cinq sites n’ayant pas obéi à son injonction de modifier leurs conditions d’accès, la justice a décidé de renvoyer le dossier devant un médiateur. Entre temps, un rapport sénatorial publié le 28 septembre souligne l’urgence d’agir. Nous avons demandé au professeur Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, spécialiste de droit de la compliance, comment à son avis il est possible de lutter efficacement contre les dérives de l’industrie pornographique".  

____

 Questions posées :

  • Dans l'affaire Youporn, la décision du tribunal judiciaire de renvoyer le dossier vers la médiation a suscité un certain émoi. N'est-ce pas le signe d'une forme de renoncement de la justice, avec tout ce que cela implique d'un point de vue symbolique ?

 

  • En quoi le droit de la compliance serait-il plus efficace que les méthodes traditionnelles ?

 

  • Mais n’est-ce pas, d’une certaine façon leur permettre de s’autoréguler, solution que précisément le rapport sénatorial écarte radicalement, estimant qu’elle n’est pas efficace ?

 

  • Le problème, à en croire les sites concernés, c’est qu’il n’y aurait pas de solution qui soit à la fois efficace et respectueuse de la protection de la vie privée…

 

  • Pensez-vous que la compliance ait une chance de réussir là où les outils plus traditionnels connaissent un échec relatif ?

 

________

Sept. 25, 2022

Publications

🌐 suivre Marie-Anne Frison-Roche sur LinkedIn

🌐 s'abonner à la Newsletter MAFR Regulation, Compliance, Law 

____

► Référence complète : M.-A. Frison-Roche, "Fonder la compliance", in Revue de l'ACE, La compliance, n° spéc. n°157, septembre 2022, p.17-31.

____

► Résumé de l'article : L'article traite le sujet en 20 étapes 

  1. Pourquoi fonder les pratiques de compliance ? Pour des impératif pratiques 
  2. Fonder les pratiques de compliance pour rendre supportables, car compréhensibles, les pouvoirs et les charges concentrés dans les outils de Compliance 
  3. Fonder les pratiques de compliance pour maîtriser un savoir technique exponentiel 
  4. Fonder les pratiques pour y trouver la part du Droit 
  5. Fonder la Compliance sur les process d’efficacité 
  6. Rendre supportable la Compliance fondée sur les process d’efficacité par un mix de procédure et d’éthique
  7. Les professionnels de la Compliance fondée sur des process
  8. La place particulière de l’avocat et du juge dans la Compliance fondée sur des process
  9. Fonder la Compliance sur l’obligation de donner à voir par avance que l’on se conforme à la réglementation applicable
  10. L’aporie de la Compliance fondée sur l’obligation de donner à voir par avance que l’on se conforme à la réglementation applicable 
  11. Les charges engendrées de la Compliance fondée sur l’obligation de donner à voir par avance que l’on se conforme à la réglementation applicable 
  12. L’impraticabilité de la Compliance fondée sur l’obligation de donner à voir par avance que l’on se conforme à la réglementation applicable
  13. Fonder la Compliance sur des buts substantiels ponctuels
  14. Les professionnels de la Compliance impliquées par la Compliance fondée sur des buts substantiels ponctuels 
  15. Fonder la Compliance par des buts substantiels globaux et à venir
  16. Fonder la Compliance par les Buts Monumentaux, négatifs et positifs
  17. Les professionnels de la Compliance fondée sur les Buts Monumentaux
  18. La place particulière de la population concernée et de l'Etat dans la Compliance fondée sur les Buts Monumentaux
  19. La place particulière de l’avocat et du juge dans la Compliance fondée sur les Buts Monumentaux
  20. L'avenir du Droit de l'Avenir

____

📝lire l'article

____

🚧lire le document de travail bilingue, doté de références techniques supplémentaires et de liens hypertextes, ayant servi de base à cet article

____

 

lire la revue dans son intégralité

_________

Updated: April 4, 2022 (Initial publication: Oct. 4, 2021)

Publications

🌐follow Marie-Anne Frison-Roche on LinkedIn

🌐subscribe to the Newsletter MAFR. Regulation, Compliance, Law

____

 Full ReferenceM.-A. Frison-Roche, The Hypothesis of the category of Systemic Cases brought before the Judge, Working Paper, October 2021 and April 2022.

____

 This working paper has served as the basis for an introductory speech 🎤L'hypothèse de la catégorie des causes systémiques (The Hypothesis of the cateory of Systemic Cases), in a more general conference which I coordinated and moderated, 🧱L'office du juge et les causes systémiqueswhich is part of a general cycle covering Penser l'office du juge, specific conference attending the 9th May 2002 into the Grand Chamber of the Cour de cassation.  

This Working Paper was drawn up in October 2021 to build the conference on the assumption that among the diversity of "cases" brought to the courts by litigants, some constitute a specific category: "systemic cases", justifying treatment that is both specific (in that they are systemic, calling in particular for procedural solutions common to all and distinguishable from the treatment of non-systemic cases) and common treatment beyond the diversity of judges who deal with them (judicial and administrative judges, criminal and non-criminal judges, French and non-French judges, judges of the member-States legal orders and European Union judges, etc.). 

This working paper does not aim to deal with the whole subject, i.e. both to determine this category of "systemic causes" and the consequences that must be drawn from it for the judge's office, since that is the very purpose of the conference, which is built around several presentations: it aims to deal with the first part of the subject, i.e. the very existence of this new processual category, which is "systemic causes", leaving for other work the practical consequences to be drawn from it in the processual treatment that it calls for.

____

📝This Working Paper is also the basis of a forthcoming article

____

► Summary of the Working Paper: xx

________

Read below the developments⤵️

Jan. 19, 2022

Organization of scientific events

► Full Reference: Frison-Roche, M.-A., coordination and moderation of the conference L'office du juge et les causes systémiques (""The Office of the Judge and systemic causes"), in Cycle of Conferences, Penser l'office du juge ("Thinking the Office of the Judge"), Grand Chamber of the Cour de cassation, Paris, May 9, 2021, 17h-19h.

The conference is held in French.

____

► General presentation of the conference: the conference is based on the intervention of three judges, Christophe Soulard, Fabien Raynaud, and François Ancel, who think and debate among themselves on a hypothesis: the existence of "systemic causes". The hypothesis is that beyond and through the diversity of disputes and cases that are submitted to the most diverse judges, there is a category of cases that are systemic, which means containing in what is submitted to the judge for resolution a system.  If such a category exists, which also raises the question of the diversity of systems and the difficulty arising from their submission to rules that are not legal (for example economic, biological, financial "laws", etc.) , then the judge should take this into account, both in the procedure and in the judgment they make on the case and in the way they formulate et restitute this judgment.

____

📝read the presentation of this conference by the Cour de cassation (in French)

📝read the program of the cycle of conferences 2022 (in French)

____

 🎥see the conference video (in French) 

🎥 see the synthesis video of the conference, made in situ by Marie-Anne Frison-Roche (in French)  

____

​✏️read the notes taken during the conference to make the synthesis (in French)

📝read the article of Marie-Anne Frison-Roche restituting this conference, published in the Recueil Dalloz (in French)

____

read the works, basis of the two interventions of Marie-Anne Frison-Roche

🚧 L'hypothèse de la "cause systémique (made before the conference to prepare it), available en English

📝Synthese of the conference (made during the conference)

________

Sept. 23, 2021

Thesaurus : Doctrine

 Full Reference: J. Morel-Maroger, "The application of compliance standards by European Union judges", in M.-A. Frison-Roche (ed.), Compliance Jurisdictionalisation, Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and Bruylant,coll. "Compliance & Regulation", to be published. 

____

📘read a general presentation of the book, Compliance Jurisdictionalisationin which this article is published

____

 Summary of the article (done by the Author): Compliance rules are intended to pursue objectives of public interest – or monumental goals – and thereby in principle modify and guide the behaviour of economic operators. In order to achieve these objectives, the full spectrum of norms are used in compliance matters. What is and what should be the role of the judges of the European Union in the development of compliance rules ?

As in domestic law, the legality of compliance standards developed by regulatory authorities has been challenged. It will first be necessary to analyse what control the judges of the European Union have over these rules. The question arises essentially as regards the rules of soft law, the challenge of which can be considered in two ways : by way of an action for annulment and by exception by way of a preliminary ruling.

But beyond the control of the legality of compliance rules exercised by European judges, they also contribute to their application. The effectiveness of compliance rules depend above all on them being followed by those to whom they are addressed, and economic operators are undoubtedly the first actors of its success. But the judges of the European Union, competent to settle disputes concerning the application of European Union law between the Member States, the European institutions, and individual applicants, may be also be involved in ensuring the effectiveness of European compliance rules and in interpreting them.

____

🦉This article is available in full text to those registered for Professor Marie-Anne Frison-Roche's courses

________

Sept. 23, 2021

Thesaurus : Doctrine

 Full Reference: S. Schiller, "A single judge in the event of an international breach of compliance obligations?", in M.-A. Frison-Roche (ed.), Compliance Jurisdictionalisation, Journal of Regulation & Compliance (JoRC) and Bruylant, coll. "Compliance & Regulation", to be published. 

____

📘read a general presentation of the book, Compliance Jurisdictionalisation, in which this article is published

____

 Summary of the article (done by the Author, translated by the Journal of Regulation & Compliance): Given the very international nature of the topic apprehended, the actors involved and therefore the compliance disputes, it is essential to know if a person can be implicated before several judges, attached to different states or even if he can be condemned by several jurisdictions. The answer is given by the non bis in idem principle, which is the subject of a abondant case law on the basis of Article 4 of Protocol n°7 of the ECHR, clearly inapplicable for jurisdictions emanating from different States.

To assess whether breaches of compliance obligations may be subject to multiple sanctions in different states, it will first be necessary to ascertain whether there is a textual basis to be invoked.

At European level, Article 50 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights now allows the principle of ne bis in idem to be invoked. Applicable to all areas of compliance, it provides very strong protection which covers not only sanctions, but also prosecutions. Like its effects, the scope of Article 50 is very broad. The procedures concerned are those which have a repressive nature, beyond those pronounced by criminal courts in the strict sense, which makes it possible to cover the convictions pronounced by one of the many regulatory authorities competent in matters of compliance.

Internationally, the situation is less clear. Article 14-7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights may be invoked, if several obstacles are overcome, including the decision of 2 November 1987 of the Human Rights Committee which restricted it to the internal framework, requiring a double conviction by the same State.

Even if these principles are applicable, two specificities of compliance situations risk hampering their application, the first related to the applicable procedural rules, in particular the rules of jurisdiction, the second related to the specificities of the situation.

The application of the non bis in idem rule is only formally accepted with regard to universal jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction, that is to say extraterritorial jurisdiction, which is only part of the jurisdiction. . The Cour de cassation (French Judiciary Supreme Court) confirmed this in the famous so-called “Oil for food” judgment of March 14, 2018. The refusal to recognize this principle as universal, regardless of the jurisdiction rule in question, deprives French companies of a defense. Moreover, the repression of breaches of compliance rules is more and more often resolved through transactional mechanisms. The latter will not always fall within the scope of European and international rules laying down the non bis in idem principle, for lack of being sometimes qualified as "final judgment" under the terms of Article 50 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 14-7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Breaches in terms of compliance are often based on multiple acts. This results from prescriptions the starting point of which is delayed at the last event and a facilitated jurisdiction for French courts when only one of the constitutive facts is found in France. In terms of compliance, the non bis in idem principle therefore generally does not protect companies and does not prevent them from being sued before the courts of two different countries for the same case. It nevertheless grants them another protection by obliging them to take into account foreign decisions in determining the amount of the penalty. The sanction against Airbus SE in the Judicial Convention of Public Interest (CJIP) of January 29, 2020 is a perfect illustration of this.

Breaches in terms of compliance are often based on multiple acts. This causes delays in the starting point of prescriptions, starting point delayed at the last event, and this facilitates judicial jurisdiction for French courts when only one of the constitutive facts is found in France. In terms of compliance, the non bis in idem principle therefore generally does not protect companies and does not prevent them from being sued before the courts of two different countries for the same case. It nevertheless grants them another protection by obliging them to take into account foreign decisions in determining the amount of the penalty. The sanction against Airbus SE in the Convention judiciaire d'intérêt public -CJIP (French Judicial Convention of Public Interest)  of January 29, 2020 is a perfect illustration of this.

____

🦉This article is available in full text to those registered for Professor Marie-Anne Frison-Roche's courses

________

Nov. 12, 2020

Thesaurus : Doctrine

Full reference: Kessedjian, C., Le tiers impartial et indépendant en droit international. Juge, arbitre, médiateur, conciliateur, Académie de Droit international de La Haye, 2020, 769p.

 

Read the forth of cover (in French)

Read the table of content (in French)

Sept. 29, 2020

Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation

Full reference: Frison-Roche, M.-A., Judge between Platform and Regulator: current example of Uber case in U.K.Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation, 29th of September 2020

Read by freely subscribing the other news of the Newsletter MAFR - Law, Compliance, Regulation

 

Summary of the news:

On 22nd of September 2017, Transport of London (TFL), London Transport Regulator, refused to renew the licence, granted on 31st of May 2012 for 5 years, authorizing Uber to transport people because of criminal offenses committed by Uber's drivers. On 26th of June 2018, The Westminster Court prolonged Uber's licence for 15 months under the condition that the platform prevent the reproachable behaviors of its drivers. After these 15 months, the TFL refused once again to prolonge Uber's licence because of the persistence of aggressions against passengers. Uber, once again, contest this decision before the Westminster Court. 

In a decision of 28th of September 2020, the Court observes that during the 15 months, the platform implemented many measures to prevent aggressions, that the level of maturity of these measures has improved over time and that the number of offenses was reduced over the period (passing from 55 in 2018 to 4 in 2020). The Court estimated the the implementation of this actions is sufficient to grant a new licence to Uber. 

We can learn three lessons from this decision: 

  1. The Compliance obligation is not a result obligation but a mean obligation, which means that it is not reasonable to expect from a crucial operator (Uber, for instance) that it prevent every cases of agression but that it is salient to judge it on the effort it deploys to try to be closer to this ideal situation. Moreover, the crucial operator must be proactive, that is going away from the figure of passive subject of Law who apply measures enacted by the regulator in terms of fighting against aggressions to be an actor of the research of the best way to fight abusive behaviors, internalizing this "monumental goal. 
  2. The judge appreciates the violation committed by those whose the firm is responsible "in context", that is evaluates the concrete situation in a reasonable way. 
  3. It is the judge who decides in last resort and like the crucial operator, it must be reasonable. 

 

Read to go further: