00:00The KPMG ruling, Council of State, Plenary Assembly, March 24, 2006, Société KPMG and others, is a major decision in law
00:07French administrative law which enshrines for the first time the principle of legal certainty as a general principle of law, PGD.
00:14The facts and the decision. The dispute, following the 2003 Financial Security Act, a
00:20A decree from November 2005 adopted a new code of ethics for auditors.
00:24Major audit firms, including KPMG, challenged the decree because it applied immediately to current mandates.
00:30without planning any adaptation measures.
00:32The decision: the Council of State partially annulled the decree due to the absence of transitional provisions.
00:38The scope of the ruling, enshrining the general principle of law, means that legal certainty becomes an autonomous norm in domestic law, distinct from
00:45the simple non-retroactivity of acts.
00:48The administration has an obligation; the author of a regulation now has a positive obligation to enact transitional measures.
00:53when new regulations excessively disrupt existing contractual or legal situations.
00:59Proportionality check: this obligation is not automatic.
01:02The judge verifies whether there is an excessive infringement of the current contract in relation to the interest
01:06general wanted.
01:07Subtitling by Radio-Canada
