In a decision dated 24 October 2013, the Court of Appeals of Paris annulled (annulation) a decision of the Commission des sanctions de l’AMF – the French administrative judicial body having authority to sanction stock market law related practices – dated 16 February 2012 and pursuant to which our clients, two hedge funds, were sanctioned initially to pay a 4.7M€ fine.
This Court of Appeals of Paris motivated its decision due to the violation, by the Commission des sanctions, of article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Particularly, the Commission des sanctions did not comply with the applicable delays allowing the persons involved to challenge the composition and members designated to deliberate on the matter: the Commission des sanctions unilaterally decided to modify the composition of its members designated to deliberate on the matter on the day of the public hearing, which resulted in the impossibility for the concerned persons to exercise their right to challenge the composition of the body, accessory to the right to a fair trial and impartial tribunal.
This annulment decision emphasizes the need to adapt the current procedures in order to minimizes potential risks of conflicts of interests.
The hedge funds were advised by:
- the law firm De Pardieu Brocas Maffei: Patrick Jaïs, Partner, and Sampiero Lanfranchi, associate.
- the law firm Olivier Schnerb: Olivier Schnerb, Partner, and Dorothée Bisaccia-Bernstein, associate.