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

Under  Article 9 of the Sapin II Law, the procedures implemented to collect and process whistleblowing disclosures must guarantee the strict confidentiality of the identity of the persons making the disclosure, of the persons concerned by the disclosure, of any third party mentioned in the disclosure, and of the information gathered by all recipients.

It is therefore forbidden for any person to divulge, without the whistleblower's consent, information revealing his or her identity unless this information is communicated to the judicial authorities in cases where the persons responsible for collecting and processing the alert are obliged to report the facts to the latter, notably in application of Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires public officials to report to the public prosecutor if they have knowledge of a crime or offense. In principle, the whistleblower must be informed of this process unless there is a risk of compromising the legal proceedings. On the other hand, the identity of the person named in the disclosure can only be made known, other than to the judicial authorities, once it has been ascertained that the report is well-founded.

Article 4 of the Decree of 3 October 20221 stipulates that the procedure for receiving reports must include the prohibition of access to the information by members of staff who are not authorized to know about it. The information may only be communicated to third parties if this is necessary to process the disclosure, and in compliance with the provisions of Article 9 part I of the Sapin II Law.

Failure to comply with the obligation of confidentiality is punishable by two years' imprisonment and a fine of EUR 30,000.

Criminalization

78. Criminalization