Introduction

Scope of application

Compliance program

Protection of whistleblowers

Audit and sanctions

Rules arising from the Sapin II Law

EU law

French law

Rules derived from competition law

Sapin II Law/Competition

Scope ratione personae

Scope ratione materiae

Scope

Development of plan

Measures included in plan

Inclusion in management report

Vigilance plan

Injunctions

Civil liability

Sanctions

Duty of vigilance (devoir de vigilance)

CSR programs

Reporting

Communication

Reporting and communication

Judicial sanctions

Risk to reputation, strategy and stability

Corporate Social Responsability (CSR)

Middlenext Code

IFA Corpus

AFEP - MEDEF Code

Types

Principles of governance

Principles incorporating CSR values

Principles

Comply or explain

Binding force

Private codes of conduct

Compliance

The Sanctions Committee may not refer a matter to itself. Consequently, the act by which the Director of French anti-corruption agency (Agence française anticorruption - AFA) refers a matter to the Sanctions Committee, which constitutes the legally required preliminary to the formal opening of a sanction procedure, cannot be considered a violation of the principle of impartiality, since it does no …

Formal opening of proceedings

The Sanctions Committee may not refer a matter to itself. Consequently, the act by which the Director of French anti-corruption agency (Agence française anticorruption - AFA) refers a matter to the Sanctions Committee, which constitutes the legally required preliminary to the formal opening of a sanction procedure, cannot be considered a violation of the principle of impartiality, since it does not prejudge either the breaches likely to be sanctioned, or the sanctions likely to be pronounced .

The sole purpose of the referral is to initiate proceedings and determine their scope . In effect, the referral delimits the in rem and in personam jurisdiction of the Sanctions Committee, which is thus seized only of the breaches imputed to the accused person set out in the referral letter, on the finding of which the AFA Director formulates his opinion concerning the nature and, where applicable, the quantum and terms of the sanction which he deems appropriate . While the director of the AFA, when referring a case to the Sanctions Committee, is deemed to have accepted the material findings, criticisms and justifications contained in the final report drawn up by departments under his or her hierarchical authority , he may decide to abandon, expressly or implicitly, objections previously raised in the audit report, and not to take them up again in his referral to the Sanctions Committee. The Sanctions Committee considers the referral to be valid, despite the possible confusion created by the discrepancies between the objections contained in the audit report, the letter of the statement of objections and the opinion of the Director of the Agency in his letter of referral, provided that the latter merely reflects the abandonment of certain objections and that the content and scope of those maintained are set out clearly enough . Furthermore, the fact that the referral letter proposes the imposition of a sanction not provided for by law does not invalidate the referral .

Once the matter has been referred to it, the Sanctions Committee is fully vested with all the sanctioning powers conferred on it by the provisions of Article 17 V of the Sapin II Law , and may appoint a rapporteur from among its members to conduct an adversarial examination of the case. The Chairman of the Commission then informs the defendant, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, that he may be assisted by counsel of his choice. In the same way, he or she informs the respondent of the opinion of the director of the agency, and invites the respondent to present his or her observations within two months of the date shown on the acknowledgement of receipt.

AFA, 7 February 2020, LawLex202200001353JBJ.

Compliance

92. Formal opening of proceedings

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

92. Formal opening of proceedings

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise