FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe, Aaron Bass and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
However, the law imposes such duty on limited cate - gories of persons, namely public officials who become aware of a crime or an offence, companies’ auditors ( commissaires aux comptes ) and via the money laun - dering compulsory alert system (mainly on banks and transactions advisers) (Article 40 of the Criminal Pro - cedure Code). 6.2 Voluntary Disclosure Incentives Self-disclosure is construed, along with general co-operation with the investigations carried out by enforcement bodies, as a positive factor when deter - mining a sanction. For instance, prison sentences shall be reduced by half in domestic corruption cases if, having notified the administrative or judicial authority, the perpetrator has enabled the offence to be stopped or the other perpetrators or accomplices to be identified. Voluntary self-disclosure is also expressly mentioned in the Guidelines on the Implementation of the CJIP (Deferred Prosecution Agreement – DPA) issued by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office and the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA), as a mitigating factor. Also, French law offers strong protection to whistle- blowers. These elements are likely to encourage reporting or self-disclosure. 6.3 Self-Disclosure Procedures There is no specific procedure for companies and indi - viduals to apply for the information or documentation for self-disclosure. When a company or an individual identifies facts that may constitute an offence, they may take the initiative to report them directly to the public prosecutor. This step may be preceded or accompanied by an internal investigation or by a report to the AFA. 6.4 Protections Afforded to Whistle-Blowers The status of whistle-blowers was established in French law by the Law of 9 December 2016 (Sapin II Law) and was updated and strengthened by the Law of 21 March 2022 (Waserman Law), which transposed the European Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law.
Whistle-blowers benefit from enhanced protection, notably since the Waserman Law. For instance, the list of prohibited retaliatory measures (including, among others, dismissal, demotion, deterioration of working conditions, damage to reputation, or wrongful termi - nation of a contract) has been expanded. The Waser - man Law also introduced a new ground for exemption from criminal liability (as set out in Article 122-9 of the French Criminal Code) and established a principle of exemption from civil liability for whistle-blowers. 6.5 Incentives Provided to Whistle-Blowers Whistle-blowers benefit from a protective framework designed to encourage them to report violations. The internal whistle-blowing systems that the man - agement of certain companies are required to imple - ment facilitate reporting anonymously. Furthermore, whistle-blowers can now address the authorities directly (external reporting). Whistle-blowers cannot receive direct financial com - pensation for their report, as implied by the defini - tion of a whistle-blower (a person “who reports or discloses, in good faith and without direct financial gain”). However, the Waserman Law has introduced the possibility for judges to grant an advance pay - ment covering legal costs to whistle-blowers when the proceedings brought against them are intended to hinder their report or public disclosure. It also provides that the authorities may ensure the implementation of psychological support measures for whistle-blowers. Enforcement of anti-corruption laws is primarily a criminal matter in France, even though if criminal offences cause harm to third parties, civil damages may be claimed either before the criminal court or separately before a civil court. Enforcement of anti-corruption laws is also an admin - istrative matter when it comes to breaches of compli - ance rules which do not amount to criminal offences. The French Anti-Corruption Agency is in charge of these administrative controls over compliance issues 7. Enforcement Trends 7.1 Enforcement
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