Contemporary French Administrative Law

Cover
Half-title page
Title page
Copyright page
Contents
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Table of Cases by Date
Table of Cases by Name
1 Introduction
1.1 French Administrative Law in British Scholarship
1.2 What Is ‘Droit administratif’?
1.3 The Shaping of Droit administratif
1.4 The Influence of French Constitutional Law
1.5 The Influence of EU Law: French Administrative Law and the Supremacy of EU Law
1.6 The Influence of the European Convention on Human Rights44
1.7 Reform of the Administration
1.8 A Note about Case Citation
2 The Institutional and Legal Context of Administrative Law
2.1 The Central Organs of the State
2.1.1 The Executive
2.1.2 The Legislature
2.2 The Local Organs of the State
2.2.1 Regional Administration
2.2.2 Département
2.2.3 The Commune
2.2.4 The Big Cities: Paris, Lyon, Marseille (PLM)
2.2.5 The Prefect
2.3 Elected Local Authorities
2.3.1 Region
2.3.2 Département
2.3.3 The Commune
2.3.4 The Big Cities: Paris, Lyon, Marseille
2.4 Independent Administrative Authorities (AAIs)
2.4.1 Regulation
2.4.2 Decision
2.4.3 Independence
2.5 Défenseur(e) des droits
2.6 Sources of Administrative Law
2.6.1 The Constitution
2.6.2 Codes and Legislation
2.6.3 EU Law
2.6.4 European Convention on Human Rights
2.6.5 General Principles of Law
2.6.6 Case Law (La jurisprudence)
2.6.7 Legal Scholarship (La doctrine)
2.7 Conclusion
3 Courts and Judges
3.1 Historical Context
3.2 Administrative Courts
3.3 General Courts
3.3.1 Tribunaux administratifs
3.3.2 Cours administratives d’appel
3.3.3 Conseil d’Etat
3.3.3.1 The Judicial Role
3.3.3.2 The Consultative Role
3.3.3.3 Section du rapport et des études
3.3.4 Cour nationale du droit d’asile
3.3.5 Cour des comptes and Other Financial Courts
3.3.6 Other Administrative Courts
3.4 Administrative Judges
3.4.1 Corps of Judges of the Tribunaux administratifs and the Cours administratives d’appel
3.4.2 Corps of the Conseil d’Etat
3.4.3 Corps of Financial Judges
3.5 Conclusion
4 The Procedure for Making Claims against Public Authorities
4.1 Principles of the Administrative Court Process
4.1.1 The Right to Effective Redress (Le droit au recours)
4.1.2 The Principle of Contradiction (Le principe du contradictoire)
4.1.3 The Principle of Openness (Le principe de la publicité)
4.1.4 The Principle of a Decision within a Reasonable Time (La durée raisonnable de la procédure)
4.1.5 The Principle of the Written Nature of Proceedings (Le caractère principalement écrite de la procédure)
4.1.6 The Principle of the Inquisitorial Character of Proceedings (Le caractère inquisitoire de la procédure)
4.1.7 The Principle of Collegiality (Le principe de la collégialité)
4.2 How Is a Claim Made?
4.2.1 Prior Administrative Redress
4.2.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution
4.2.3 Obligatory Legal Representation
4.3 Interim Measures (Le référé)
4.4 The Investigation (L’instruction)
4.4.1 Request for Information
4.4.2 Expert Report (L’expertise)
4.4.3 Site Visit (La visite des lieux)
4.4.4 Witness Hearing (L’enquête)
4.4.5 Amicus Curiae
4.5 Rapporteur Public
4.6 Preliminary References
4.7 The Hearing
4.8 The Deliberation
4.9 Enforcement
4.10 Conclusion
5 The Distinction between Public Law and Private Law
5.1 The Subject Matter of Litigation at the Constitutional Level
5.1.1 Illegality
5.1.2 Exceptions to the Separation of Administrative and Ordinary Judicial Authorities
5.1.2.1 The Defence of Illegality before the Civil Courts
5.1.2.2 Criminal Proceedings
5.1.2.3 Protection of Civil Liberties and Private Property
5.1.2.4 The Good Administration of Justice
5.1.2.5 Legislative Exceptions
5.2 Other Categories of Litigation
5.2.1 Contracts and Commercial Activities
5.2.2 Property
5.2.3 Liability of Public Bodies
5.3 Voie de fait
5.4 Public Persons
5.5 General Criteria for Identifying Public Law Matters
5.6 Mechanisms for Handling Conflicts over Jurisdiction
5.6.1 Positive Conflict
5.6.2 Negative Conflict
5.6.3 Preliminary Reference by a Court
5.6.4 Conflict of Decisions
5.7 Conclusion
6 Judicial Review of Administrative Action: Procedure
6.1 Who Can Challenge an Administrative Decision?
6.2 What Kinds of Decisions Can Be Challenged?
6.2.1 The Need for a Prior Decision
6.2.2 Circulars and Soft Law
6.2.2.1 Circulars
6.2.2.2 Guidelines
6.2.2.3 Other Soft Law and Information
6.2.3 Internal Measures
6.2.4 Actes de gouvernement
6.3 Is Judicial Review Inappropriate?
6.4 Time Limits
6.5 Can Judicial Review Be Excluded?
6.6 Remedies
6.6.1 Nullity
6.6.1.1 What Is the Effect of Nullity?
6.6.2 Can Nullity Be Avoided?
6.6.3 Injunctions (Injonctions)
6.6.4 Declaratory Judgments
6.6.5 Correcting a Decision
6.7 Costs
6.8 Penalties
6.9 Conclusion
7 Maintaining Legality: The Grounds of Review
7.1 Grounds of Review
7.1.1 Non-existence (Inexistence)
7.1.2 Lack of Competence (Incompétence)
7.1.3 Breach of an Essential Procedural Requirement (Vice de procédure et vice de forme)
7.1.4 Abuse of Power (Détournement de pouvoir)
7.1.5 Illegality
7.1.5.1 Error of Fact
7.1.5.2 Error of Law (Erreur de droit)
7.1.5.3 Manifest Error in Evaluation (Erreur manifeste d’appréciation)
7.1.5.4 Proportionality
7.1.5.5 The Sliding Scale for Review
7.2 Values Enforced through Judicial Review
7.3 Fundamental Rights
7.3.1 Constitutional Rights
7.3.2 European Convention on Human Rights
7.3.3 General Principles of Law
7.3.4 Modern Emerging Principles
7.4 Principles of Good Administration
7.4.1 The Conduct of Public Officials
7.4.2 Transparency and Data Protection
7.4.3 The Handling of Requests from the Public
7.4.4 Time Limits and Appeals
7.4.5 Principles Governing the Decision Taken
7.4.6 Legitimate Expectations and Legal Certainty
7.4.7 Duty to Give Reasons
7.5 Conclusion
8 State Liability
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Theories of Liability
8.3 Liability for Public Works (Responsabilité pour les travaux publics)
8.4 Fault Liability
8.4.1 The Nature of Fault
8.4.2 Faute de service
8.4.3 Faute personnelle
8.4.4 Faute simple and Faute lourde
8.4.5 Fault and Unlawfulness
8.4.6 Fault in Regulation
8.4.7 Types of Fault
8.5 No-Fault Liability
8.5.1 Liability for Exceptional Risks
8.5.2 Assistance to the Public Service
8.5.3 Equality before Public Burdens
8.5.4 Other No-Fault Compensation
8.6 Controls on Liability
8.6.1 Categories of Harm
8.6.2 Causation
8.6.3 Measure of Damages
8.7 Conclusion
9 Claims Relating to Public Contracts
9.1 What Is a Public Law Contract?
9.1.1 Criteria Laid Down by Administrative Courts
9.1.1.1 Criteria Linked to a Public Service Mission
9.1.1.2 Criteria Based on a Clause Unusual in Private Law
9.1.2 Criteria Laid Down by the Legislator
9.2 Specific Rules Applicable to Public Law Contracts
9.2.1 Rules Applicable to the Formation of the Contract
9.2.1.1 Validity of the Contractual Consent
9.2.1.2 Validity of the Contractual Content
9.2.2 Rules Applicable to the Performance of the Contract
9.2.2.1 Exceptions to the Binding Force of Contracts Benefiting Public Authorities
9.2.2.2 Exceptions to the Binding Force of Contracts Benefiting Private Contractors
9.3 Remedies for Public Law Contracts
9.3.1 Remedies for Third Parties to Public Law Contracts
9.3.2 Remedies for Parties to Public Law Contracts
9.4 Concluding Remarks
10 Conclusion
10.1 Path Dependence
10.2 The Constitutional Turn
10.3 The European Environment
10.4 Social Change
10.5 Renvoi
Index