Tribunal des conflits

Courtroom of the Tribunal des Conflits in the Palais Royal

The Tribunal des Conflits is a court of the French state. Its task is to decide questions of jurisdiction between the ordinary jurisdiction ( juridiction judiciaire ) and the administrative jurisdiction ( juridiction administrative ).

History and legal basis

The Tribunal des Conflits was originally set up by Article 89 of the 1848 Constitution to settle issues of jurisdiction between administration and jurisdiction. In the Second Empire was dissolved and then reinstated by the law of 24 May 1,872th The law of April 20, 1932 and the decree of July 25, 1960 extended its jurisdiction.

Composition and activity

The Tribunal des conflits consists of the Minister of Justice as chairman and four three-year members each from the Conseil d'État and the Court of Cassation . The decisions are made with a simple majority. The Tribunal des conflits is located at the Conseil d'État and meets in the Palais Royal . The Minister of Justice usually only takes part in the meetings in the event of a tie and then has the casting vote. The prosecution consists of two members from the Council of State and two members from the Court of Cassation. The Tribunal des conflits handles around 50 cases a year.

Jurisdiction

The Tribunal des Conflits is responsible for five defined case categories, namely the positive conflict of competence (conflit positif) , the negative conflict of competence (conflit négatif) , the decision conflict (conflit de décisions) , the referral conflict (conflit sur renvoi) and the conflict of claims (conflit de revendication ) .

A positive conflict occurs when a prefect doubts the jurisdiction of an administrative court by means of an arrêté de conflit . A negative conflict is when both civil and administrative jurisdictions declare themselves incompetent. A decision conflict arises from contradicting decisions of different courts. In order to avoid a negative conflict or a decision-making conflict, the Tribunal des Conflits can be called in preventive action; Such referral conflicts represent the most common class of cases. A claim conflict has not yet arisen; it arises when a member of the government requests that the State Council remove responsibility for a case.

Important judgments

On February 8, 1873, the Blanco judgment introduced the principle of official liability.
The Pelletier judgment of July 30, 1873 differentiated between official liability and the civil servant's personal liability.
The Association-syndicale-du-canal-de-Gignac judgment defined the term établissement public on December 9, 1899 .
On January 22, 1921, the Société-commerciale-de-l'Ouest-africain judgment for public institutions introduced the distinction between Établissement public à caractère administratif (EPA) and Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial (EPIC).

Sources and web links

Constitution of 1848
Analysis of some important decisions at the Conseil d'État
Work report 2005
Presentation of the tribunal at the French Ministry of Justice
photos