Court of Cassation Quashes and Annuls Judgment on Grounds of Fair Trial and Retroactivity of Jurisprudence
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Court of Cassation, fair trial, retroactivity of jurisprudence, Article 53 of the Press Law, human rights, defamation, leaflet, online petition
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Abstract
In a landmark decision, the Court of Cassation has quashed and annulled a judgment rendered by the Court of Appeal, ruling that the immediate application of new case law imposing compliance with Article 53 of the Press Law would result in depriving the plaintiffs of a fair trial. The case revolves around a company's claim that a leaflet and online petition contained defamatory statements, and the court's decision has significant implications for the retroactivity of jurisprudence and the protection of human rights.
Extract
[...] Scope: On the first point, the significance of the judgment is in no way innovative, it is on the means raised ex officio, derived from the nullity of the summons that the judgment is extremely interesting. "Article 53 of the law of 1881 requires, on pain of nullity, that the summons precisely and qualify the incriminated fact and indicate the applicable law text to the prosecution". In this case, the summons, which targeted "Article 29 of the law of July 29, 1881" on freedom of the press (i.e. [...]
[...] That is why, it has sued the collective as well as the host of the site in order to obtain the repair of its prejudice. Procedure : The first instance judges and the appellate judges have dismissed the company's claim. That is why it has filed a cassation appeal. Means : The company argues a violation of article 4 of the Civil Procedure Code and a disregard of their claims since it had claimed that defamation was also constituted by the allegation of the implementation of procedures similar to the crematoria ovens of the Nazi extermination camps and mistreating the remains of the deceased. [...]
[...] Solution: The "Court of Cassation quashes and annuls the judgment rendered by the Court of Appeal" on the grounds that the company was also incriminating the use, in the text of the petition, of the terms "factory equipped with crematoria" and argued that these terms referred to the crematoria of Nazi extermination camps. Allegations likely to harm the honor and consideration within the meaning of Article 29 of the law of 29 July 1881. The judge had to rule on all of the parties' claims. [...]
[...] Court of Cassation, Civil Chamber April No. 15-10.552 - Did the judge misapprehend the scope of the parties' claims? - Case summary Hook: If conflicts of laws in time are governed by established and old rules, the application in time of a 'jurisprudential reversal' is a relatively recent question. If the principle is that of the retroactivity of jurisprudence for the purpose of legal security, in particular circumstances, an exception can be made to this retroactivity, as illustrated by the present decision rendered by the first civil chamber of the 'Court of Cassation' on April 2016. [...]
[...] What should be retained from the judgment is that the immediate application of the new case law imposing compliance with Article 53 of the Press Law before the civil jurisdiction would result in depriving the plaintiffs of a fair trial, so that the summons, in accordance with the previous case law, should not be annulled. The highest French court thus modulates over time the effects of its decision. - Judgment of the First Civil Chamber of 1Error March 2017 in continuity. [...]
