00:00This ruling concerns the condition of reciprocity provided for in Article 55 of the French Constitution.
00:05This article stipulates that duly ratified or approved international treaties or agreements have superior authority to that of
00:11laws, subject to their application by the other party.
00:15In this case, Ms. Chériette Benseguir contested the refusal to recognize her medical degree obtained in Algeria.
00:21She cited an agreement concluded between France and Algeria concerning the recognition of diplomas.
00:26The difficulty was determining whether the condition of reciprocity was met, that is, whether Algeria was applying
00:32also the provisions of this agreement.
00:34Previously, since the Récoux decision of 1981, the administrative judge deferred to the assessment of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
00:41foreign countries to determine whether a treaty was actually being applied by the other state.
00:45The judge therefore did not carry out this verification himself.
00:48In its decision of July 9, 2010, the Council of State abandoned this case law.
00:52He now considers that it is up to the administrative judge to verify for himself whether the condition of reciprocity is met.
00:59To this end, it may gather observations from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and, if necessary, those of the foreign State.
01:05concerned, while respecting the principle of adversarial proceedings.
01:09Scope of the ruling
01:10The Council of State strengthens the role of the administrative judge in monitoring the application of international conventions.
01:16It no longer depends on the assessment of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and exercises genuine jurisdictional control itself.
01:23This ruling also guarantees greater independence for administrative judges in the interpretation and application of international treaties.
01:29It should be noted that, since the case of Ms. Chérie Benseguir, the administrative judge himself assesses whether the condition of reciprocity stipulated by the law is met.
01:36'Article 55 of the Constitution is respected.
01:39Thank you for watching this video!
