#Ethics and Compliance:

The Free group fined 42 million euros following a data breach

On 14 January 2026, the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) imposed a €42 million fine on the Free group for serious breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation’s security requirements. The ruling was pronounced following the October 2024 cyberattack that compromised the data of 24.6 million customers. The authority highlights the exceptional scale of the violation, the absence of basic protective measures to prevent intrusions, and the substantial resources available to the group enabling to implement adequate security. Free contests what they call unprecedented severity and has announced they will file for appeal on the Conseil d’État, asserting that they have since strengthened its security and monitoring mechanisms. > Read article

The French Senate adopts the legal privilege

On 14 January, the Sénat definitively adopted the Terlier bill, which aims at establishing the confidentiality of legal advice provided by in-house counsel. To benefit from this French-style legal privilege, in-house lawyers must hold a master’s degree in law and have completed specific training in ethics. For the advice to be protected by privilege, it must bear a specific notice, and its access is strictly limited to the company’s executive, management, or supervisory bodies. However, tax and criminal proceedings are excluded from the scope of application. If for some the adoption of this bill will enhance legal certainty for companies and thereby contribute to the preservation of French economic and legal sovereignty. Others, however, such as Sherpa, take the view that the confidentiality of in-house legal advice is likely to weaken the effectiveness of investigations conducted by administrative authorities. Such authorities would no longer be able to seize or obtain disclosure of legal opinions issued by in-house counsel. > Read article

#Criminal litigation and international investigation:

Murder of Marie‑Thérèse Bonfanti: A “weighty decision” but consistent with the “rules of law”, states the ruling of the Court of Cassation, which finds that the prosecution is time‑barred

On 16 January 2026, The Cour of Cassation in its plenary session found that the prosecution in the case concerning the murder of Marie‑Thérèse Bonfanti, who disappeared in 1986, was barred by the statute of limitations, despite the perpetrator Yves Chatain’s confession in 2022. The Cour de cassation held that no insurmountable obstacle had prevented investigators from acting at the time of the disappearance, since a criminal offence was immediately suspected. The statute of limitations was at the time, ten years for murder, and had therefore expired. This decision, which precludes any further proceedings against Yves Chatain, constitutes a strict application of the law, while being acknowledged as “heavy” and “difficult to understand”. > Read article

Towards a further strengthening of seizure and confiscation powers

On January 14, 2026, the Senat unanimously adopted a bill aimed at strengthening and automating seizures and confiscations in criminal matters. The text introduces, the provisional enforcement of seizure decisions during the pre-sentencing phase. It enables confiscations orders to be enforceable when they are issued against convicted persons who are on the run. It also renders confiscation automatic when the lawful origin of the assets cannot be justified by the convicted person or the owner. The bill further transposes a European directive establishing a post-sentencing investigative framework. The public prosecutor will be able to identify, after conviction, assets that were not confiscated beforehand, in particular through the use of interceptions of communications and geolocation. The reform is accompanied by an increase in the resources allocated to the Agence de gestion et de recouvrement des avoirs saisis et confisqués (AGRASC) and by measures intended to facilitate the effective enforcement of confiscation orders and other patrimonial penalties. > Read article

Mayotte: a landmark trial for favouritism and misappropriation of public funds at the water authority opens in Paris

A trial opened on 19 January 2026 before the Tribunal correctionnel of Paris concerning allegations of favouritism, misappropriation of public fundsand unlawful taking of interests within the Intermunicipal water union of Mayotte (Sieam). The proceedings, brought following an investigation conducted by the Parquet national financier Office, target six former senior officials, including the former president, as well as several business executives who allegedly benefited from the disputed public contracts. The defendants are accused of repeated breaches of public procurement rules, in particular through the artificial splitting of public contracts circumventing competition requirements, as well as the payment for services that were never performed. The investigation, initiated following an alert by the Regional Audit Chamber in 2018, revealed serious governance failures and the irregular use of public funds in a critical sector marked by severe difficulty of access to clean water in Mayotte. The authority itself and the association Anticor have joined the proceedings as parties civiles. > Read article