FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Laloum, Jordan Pontal, Julie Sarny and Gabin Dupont-Guianvarch, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
11. Defence 11.1 Timing and Grounds of Defence When a legal action is initiated, the administra - tive judge notifies the defendant of the claim - ant’s petition initiating proceedings ( requête ). The judge sets a time limit for the defendant to respond to the claimant’s briefs. The defendant may file observations until the administrative court declares the investigation closed. In practice, and by way of illustration, the follow - ing grounds for defence may be raised: • the court’s lack of jurisdiction (subject matter and territorial jurisdiction); • the inadmissibility of the claim (nature of the act, status of the party, forms and time limits for appeal); • the ineffectiveness of the arguments invoked (some arguments cannot be raised, nota - bly in appeals challenging the validity of an administrative agreement (see the “Tarn-et- Garonne” ruling (Council of State, 4 April 2014, Département de Tarn-et-Garonne, case No 358994)), where only arguments related to the damaged interest of the petitioner could be invoked); or • the lack of merit of the arguments invoked. 12. Interim Relief 12.1 Common Forms of Interim Relief As indicated above (see 9.7 Expedited Pro- ceedings ), there are several emergency proce - dures allowing the claimant to obtain provisional measures:
decision is made solely in the interest of the authority itself. • Incompetence of the author of the act – an administrative act adopted by an authority lacking the necessary competence is con - sidered illegal. This incompetence may be material, territorial, or temporal. It is a matter of public policy and the judge may raise it ex officio. • Formal defects – formal defects relate to the proper presentation and drafting of adminis - trative acts. Failure to adhere to these formal requirements may result in the annulment of the act. 10.11Exempt Decisions Claimants may only lodge appeal before admin - istrative courts against administrative acts. However, some administrative acts, by their very nature, cannot be challenged. These include the following. • Acts of government – this category encom - passes acts of the executive branch that pertain to relations between constitutional administrative authorities or the conduct of international relations. For example, a decree by the French President of the Republic dis - solving the National Assembly falls under this category and therefore cannot be challenged. • Decisions that do not give rise to grievances – this category includes internal measures – ie, decisions made by the administrative author - ity that, due to their minor nature, are consid - ered to have no legal consequences for those affected. For instance, a decision to reassign a civil servant to a different post, which does not result in any significant change to their situation, falls within this category and there - fore cannot be challenged.
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