Council of State Ruling on Administrative Decision Legality

Extract

[...] The Council of State thus avoids imposing on the administration obligations that have become incompatible with the law in force. In theIn this case, the 2018 decree prohibiting the withdrawal of any decoration in respect of a deceased person was an obstacle to the measure sought by the applicant. This approach is in line with the logic of the principle of legal security, enshrined in the judgment ofthe Council of State, Sociwas KPMG, which requires public authorities to ensure that stabilityis and à la preévisibilityit is of theislegal issues. [...]

[...] This logic is part of a broader judicial evolution aimed at adapting the judge's control to the transformations of administrative action. Thus, in the CE, Association of Accidental Americans decision, the Council of State admitted that the legality of a refusal to repeal a regulatory act must bethree apprestablished at the date to which the judge rules, and not that of the contested decisionand. De mI, in the CE, Commune de Grande-Synthe, the High Court has mobilized its powers of injunction to force the State to adapt its action to contemporary climate objectives. [...]

[...] also addressed a request to the Premier Leaguethe Minister in order to contest the provisions of the 2018 decree. Appealed, the Paris Court of Appeal, on 18 November 2022, rendered a non-suit, considering that the 2018 decree and the decisthe interested party's submissions rendered the request for an injunction moot. Mr. B. then appealed to the Conseil d'État. The applicant argued that the Court of Appeal had made a legal error in refusing toapprchallenge the legality of the administrative decision at the time of its issuance, in accordance with the classical principles of the contentious-administrative jurisdiction,iss of power. [...]

[...] His request was rejected by an explicit decision of 12 April 2016, confirmed in November 2016 aisis the rejection of a friendly appeal. During the litigation, a decree of 28 November 2018 modified the code of the Legion of Honour, specifying that no withdrawal of a decoration can be pronounced against a deceased person. In this context, M. B. brought an action before the administrative court of Paris seeking the annulment of the two initial decisions (accompanied by conclusions aimed at injunctive relief for a re-examination of his request). The court rejected his requestis rejected by judgment of 16 February 2018. [...]

[...] Thus, in the CE, Camino judgment, the Council of State checks the material accuracy of the facts as they existed at the time of the administrative decision. Similarly, in the CE, Gomel judgment, the High Court controls the legal qualification of the facts at the time when the administration has ruled. In this classical perspective, the judge's mission consists above all in censoring a past illegality.e, indregardless of subsequent developments in the legal framework. However, the February ruling marks a notable shift in this reasoning. [...]