Press review – Week of 20 March 2023

In this week’s press review, Navacelle looks at the arrest warrant issued by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for war crimes against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights, for deporting Ukrainian children to the occupied territories. In criminal business law, the AMF fined a former Schneider Electric employee €700,000 for insider trading, and the French Tennis Federation (FFT) was the target of a complaint to the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office for corruption and misappropriation of public property. Finally, in the Togo corruption case against Vincent Bolloré, the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal decided to remove from the case file the documents relating to the latter’s CRPC in order to comply with the principle of presumption of innocence. Also, in competition law, Casino and Intermarché, the two giants of the supermarket industry, were condemned by the Court of Appeal for restrictive competition practices. Finally, the Constitutional Council validated Article 114 of the Code of Criminal Procedure because it is not contrary to the rights of the defence.

Boosting the fight against greenwashing in France

In the recent years, French rulemakers, regulators and the judicial system have contributed to strengthen the fight against greenwashing. > Read analysis

War crimes in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin targeted by International Criminal Court arrest warrant

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights. The Court considers that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Vladimir Putin is personally responsible for war crimes for the deportation of Ukrainian children to the occupied territories in the East of the country. Although neither Russia nor Ukraine is a member of the ICC, Ukraine has accepted the court’s jurisdiction over its territory, hailing it as “a landmark decision”. > Read article

“Restrictive competition practices”: Casino and Intermarché fined €4 million

Leading retailers Casino and Intermarché were fined a total of €4 million on appeal for “restrictive competition practices” on 15 March 2023. The Paris Court of Appeal found that the two giants had demanded from certain suppliers “additional investments without effective counterparty and under the threat of retaliation” in 2015. The two companies had been fined at first instance lesser penalties with a civil fine of €2 million. > Read article

Insider trading: the AMF fines a former Schneider Electric employee €700,000

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has fined the former head of Schneider Electric’s consolidation department €700,000 for having used information considered to be privileged that enabled him to make substantial capital gains. He is accused of having bought shares in the company before the publication of the annual results, which showed figures that were higher than the consensus, and of having sold them the next day, realizing a capital gain of 342,344 euros. > Read article

Corruption and misappropriation of public property: the French Tennis Federation targeted by a complaint

The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Monday 20 March 2023 that a complaint for misappropriation of public funds and corruption against the French Tennis Federation (FFT) has been filed. The complaint was filed by several executives of the Federation and comes a few weeks after the publication in the media of an investigation questioning the management methods and financial management of the Federation since the election in 2021 of Gilles Moretton as president. > Read article

Suspected corruption in Togo: Vincent Bolloré’s admission of guilt removed from the file

On Tuesday 21 March, the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal followed the public prosecutor’s request to remove from the file the documents relating to Vincent Bolloré’s plea of guilt (CRPC) in order to preserve the principle of the presumption of innocence. Indeed, the latter had not been approved by the judge. Mr Bolloré’s defence had asked for the investigation to be cancelled and for him to be placed under investigation. > Read article

Limitation to expert reports of copies of documents in the proceedings that may be communicated to third parties: provision compliant with the Constitution

In the context of a priority question of constitutionality (QPC) referred to it concerning the constitutionality of Article 114 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Constitutional Council validated the prohibition on the communication by the parties or their lawyers to third parties of copies of documents in the file other than expert reports. > Read article