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French Consumer Law

Where disputes arise from of the execution of sponsorship agreement, which courts have jurisdiction?
Ancillary to a commercial transaction, the sponsorship agreement is of a commercial nature insofar as it is concluded by a trader. In a case where the status as a trader of the signatory of the sponsorship agreement - and therefore, the jurisdiction of the T. com. - was contested on the grounds tha …

Material jurisdiction

Where disputes arise from of the execution of sponsorship agreement, which courts have jurisdiction?

Ancillary to a commercial transaction, the sponsorship agreement is of a commercial nature insofar as it is concluded by a trader. In a case where the status as a trader of the signatory of the sponsorship agreement - and therefore, the jurisdiction of the T. com. - was contested on the grounds that the brand which formed the subject-matter of the contract, had been the object of a subsequent filing by the representative of a company in the process of being set up , the Paris Court of Appeal held that a sponsorship agreement, which is intended to promote a brand, constitutes a commercial agreement thereby subject to the jurisdiction of the T. com. . The Court of Cassation has also stated that the courts of appeal, which have full power to hear an entire case both in terms of jurisdiction and on the merits, are competent to settle disputes relating to sponsorship agreements, even in cases where the T. com. is not competent at first instance .

Where litigation concerns an organization vested with a public service mission, does it still fall within the jurisdiction of the administrative court? If the organization's role in the case at hand is the execution of a private law commercial contract, unrelated to the exercise of the prerogatives of a public authority, and not to ensure the public service mission in which it is vested, the civil courts retain jurisdiction . In contrast, when an undertaking participates, by way of agreement, in the actual performance of a public administrative service by creating and organizing communications operations to promote the image of a geographical area (département), the dispute falls within the jurisdiction of the Administrative Court . 

The Court of Cassation laid down the rules for the sharing of jurisdiction between the Competition Authority and the administrative court on the occasion of a dispute relating to the performance of an exclusive sponsorship deal between the Ligue nationale de football (LNF) and private operators . The LNF had changed the regulations in respect of championships so that participating clubs had to wear the kits provided by it, i.e. exclusively those of its own sponsor. Two legal acts were intertwined in this ruling: the first, contractual, the second, regulatory, but of which the intention was to render exclusive the rights conferred on the sponsor. Focusing more on the commercial object of its contentious provisions than the unilateral character of the regulation the Court of Cassation found the Competition Authority to be competent. Although acts by federations for the organization of official competitions - and in particular the regulation of championships - are the manifestation of the prerogatives of public authority exercised in the framework of a public service mission and are, as such, subject to the administrative court ruling on jurisdiction, sponsorship agreements, on the other hand, are private law acts which belong to the competence of the ordinary courts. The same is true, according to the Authority, for the provision of a stand to an equipment manufacturer in the enclosure of a sporting competition, which must be interpreted as a service activity separable from the public authority prerogatives of the federation 

CA Paris, 31 January 1997, LawLex200300003129JBJ.

Cass. com., 27 March 2001, LawLex200300003161JBJ.

TGI Paris, 9 January 1991, LawLex200300001847JBJ: dispute concerning the payment of prize money, agreed in consideration for winning a competition. It is therefore not a dispute relating to in the execution of the public service mission of the French Sailing Federation, but in the application of various agreements for the implementation of the race.

Tribunal des conflits, 5 July 1999, LawLex200300001845JBJ.

Cass. com., 2 December 1997, LawLex200200002871JBJ, overruling CA Paris, 28 August 1995, LawLex200200002290JBJ, for its ruling that that the power to impose the wearing of particular kits is subject to the general power of organization of the public service and accordingly falls outside the scope of application of competition law. See Competition Council decision No 95-MC-10 of 12 July 1995, LawLex200200003087JBJ: for the Council, any act separable from the exercise of the prerogatives of public power falls within its jurisdiction, a sports sponsorship agreement being considered an act separable from the mission vested in a sports federation. 

Competition Council decision No 98-D-31 of 13 May 1998, LawLex200200002890JBJ.

French Consumer Law

70. Material jurisdiction

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

70. Material jurisdiction

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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