6. Having embezzled or concealed all or some of
the assets or fraudulently increased the liabilities of the legal person.
7. Having kept accounts which are manifestly
incomplete or irregular.
II. – The date on which payments are suspended shall
be set in the judgment instituting administrative order or winding-up
proceedings of the legal person.
IV. – Proceedings shall be statute barred three years
after the judgment setting out the recovery plan for the undertaking or, where
there is none, the judgment ordering winding-up.
Article L624-6
In the cases for which provision is made in Articles
L. 624-3 to L. 624-4, the court shall act ex officio or shall be
petitioned by the administrator, the creditors' representative, the
commissioner responsible for executing the plan or the procureur de la
République.
Article L624-7
For the purpose of the provisions of Articles L. 624-3
to L. 624-5, the court may, either ex officio or at the request of one
of the persons referred to in Article L. 624-6, instruct the court-appointed
receiver or, where there is no court-appointed receiver, a member of the court
appointed specifically to obtain any documents or information from
administrations and public agencies, welfare and national insurance agencies or
credit institutions on the assets of natural persons or legal persons acting as
directors or natural persons acting as standing representatives of directors
who are legal persons, as referred to in Article L. 624-2, any statutory
provisions to the contrary notwithstanding.
Chapter
V: Personal bankruptcy
and other prohibition measures
Article L625-1
Where an administrative order or winding-up
proceedings are instituted, the provisions of this chapter shall apply to:
1. Natural persons exercising the profession of
trader or farmer or entered on the trades register.
2. Natural persons acting as de jure or de
facto directors of legal persons which have an economic activity.
3. Natural persons acting as standing
representatives of legal persons acting as directors of the legal persons
defined in No 2 above.
Article L625-2
Personal bankruptcy shall result in prohibition from
directing, managing, administering or directly or indirectly controlling any
commercial or artisan undertaking, any farm holding and any legal person
exercising an economic activity.
Article L625-3
At any point during the proceedings, the court may declare
personally bankrupt any natural person who is a trader or farmer or who is
entered in the trades register and who is charged with:
1. Having abusively continued to operate a
loss-making business which was bound to result in insolvency.
2. Having failed to keep accounts in accordance
with the law or removed all or some accounting records.
3. Having embezzled or hidden all or some of the
assets or fraudulently increased the liabilities.
Article L625-4
At any point in the proceedings, the court may declare
personally bankrupt any natural person who is a paid or unpaid de jure or
de facto director of a legal person who has committed one of the acts
referred to in Article L. 624-5.
Article L625-5
At any point in the proceedings, the court may declare
personally bankrupt any person referred to in Article L. 625-1 who is charged
with:
1. Having exercised the profession of trader,
artisan or farmer or held office as a director or administrator of a legal
person despite being disqualified by law.
2. Having purchased items with a view to
reselling them at a loss or used ruinous means in order to obtain funds with
intent to avoid or delay the institution of an administrative order or
court-ordered winding-up.
3. Having made commitments, on behalf of a third
party and without a counterparty, which were considered excessive when made,
given the standing of the undertaking or legal person.
4. Having paid or arranged for payment to be
made to a creditor to the detriment of the other creditors once payments had
been suspended and knowing that they had been suspended.
5. Having omitted to declare suspension of
payments within fifteen days.
Article L625-6
The court may declare a director of a legal person who
fails to pay the legal person's debts for which he was responsible personally
bankrupt.
Article L625-7
The court shall act ex officio or at the
petition of the administrator, the creditors' representative, the liquidator or
the procureur de la République in the cases for which provision is made
in Articles L. 625-3 to L. 625-6.
Article L625-8
The court may disqualify persons from directly or
indirectly directing, managing, administering or controlling either any
commercial or artisan undertaking, farm holding or legal person or one or more
thereof, in lieu of declaring them personally bankrupt.
The prohibition referred to in the first paragraph may
also be ordered against any persons referred to in Article L. 625-1 who failed,
in bad faith, to give the creditors' representative a complete, certified list
of their creditors and the amounts outstanding within eight days of the
judgment instituting the procedure.
Article L625-9
The voting rights of directors declared personally
bankrupt or disqualified in accordance with Article L. 625-8 shall be exercised
at the general meetings of shareholders of legal persons subject to
administrative order or winding-up proceedings by an agent specifically
appointed by the court at the request of the administrator, the liquidator or
the commissioner responsible for executing the plan.
The court may order all or some of these directors to
sell their shares in the legal person or may order the forced sale thereof by a
legal agent, where necessary after an expert opinion. The proceeds from
the sale shall be used to pay some of the company's debts, insofar as the said
debts were the directors' responsibility.
Article L625-10
Where the court orders the personal bankruptcy or
prohibition provided for in Article 625-8, it shall set the term thereof, which
shall be at least five years, and may order the provisional enforcement of its
ruling. Forfeitures and prohibitions shall cease ipso jure at the
end of the term set, without the need for a judgment.
The judgment closing the procedure because the liabilities
have been paid shall reinstate the entrepreneur or the directors of the legal
person in all their rights and shall dispense them from or relieve them of all
forfeitures or prohibitions.
In all events, interested parties may request that the
court relieve them of all or some forfeitures or prohibitions by making an
adequate contribution towards payment of the liabilities.
Where relief is granted from all forfeitures and
prohibitions, the court judgment shall include discharge.
Chapter VI: Aggravated bankruptcy and other offences
Section
1: Aggravated bankruptcy
Article L626-1
The provisions of this section shall apply to:
1. Any trader, farmer or person entered on the
trades register.
2. Any person who has acted as the direct or
indirect de jure or de facto director or liquidator of a private
legal person exercising an economic activity.
3. Any natural person acting as the standing
representative of a legal person acting as the director of a legal person as
defined in no. 2 above.
Article L626-2
If administrative order or winding-up proceedings are
instituted, the court may institute an administrative order or winding-up
proceedings against any paid or unpaid de jure or de facto directors
charged with:
1. Having purchased items with a view to
reselling them at a loss or used ruinous means in order to obtain funds with
intent to avoid or delay the institution of an administrative order or
court-ordered winding-up.
2. Having embezzled or hidden all or some of the
debtor's assets.
3. Having fraudulently increased the debtor's
liabilities.
4. Having kept fictitious accounts or removed
accounting documents from the undertaking or the legal person or failed to keep
any accounts required by law.
5. Having kept accounts which are manifestly
incomplete or irregular.
Article L626-3
Aggravated bankruptcy shall be punished by five years'
imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 francs.
Accessories to aggravated bankruptcy shall be liable
to the same punishment, even if they are not traders, farmers or artisans or do
not directly or indirectly act as the de jure or de facto directors
of a private legal person exercising an economic activity.
Article L626-4
Perpetrators of or accessories to aggravated
bankruptcy who are directors of investment service companies shall be liable to
seven years' imprisonment and a fine of 700,000 francs.
Article L626-5
Natural persons found guilty of the offences for which
provision is made in Articles L. 626-3 and L. 626-4 shall also be liable to the
following additional punishment:
1. Deprivation of civic, civil and family rights
as stipulated in Article 131-26 of the Penal Code.
2. Prohibition, for a period of no more than
five years, from public office or from exercising the professional or social
activity in or during the exercise of which the offence was committed.
3. Exclusion from public procurement contracts
for a period of no more than five years.
4. Prohibition, for a period of no more than
five years, from issuing cheques other than cheques allowing the drawer to
withdraw funds from the drawee or certified cheques.
5. Judgment to be posted or displayed as
stipulated in Article 131-35 of the Penal Code.
Article L626-6
The criminal jurisdiction which finds one of the
persons referred to in Article L. 626-1 guilty of aggravated bankruptcy may
also declare them personally bankrupt or disqualify them in accordance with
Article L. 625-8.
Where a criminal jurisdiction and a civil or tribunal
de commerce have passed final judgments declaring a person personally
bankrupt or disqualified in accordance with Article L. 625-8 for the same
deeds, the sanction ordered by the criminal jurisdiction alone shall be
enforced.
Article L626-7
I. – Legal persons may be found criminally responsible
in accordance with Article 121-2 of the Penal Code for the offences for which
provision is made in Articles L. 626-3 and L. 626-4.
II. – The sanctions imposed on legal persons shall be
as follows:
1. A fine in accordance with Article 131-38 of
the Penal Code.
2. The punishments referred to in Article 131-39
of the Penal Code.
III. – The prohibition referred to in Article 131-39
(2) of the Penal Code shall apply to the activity in or during the exercise of
which the offence was committed.
Section
2: Other offences
Article L626-8
A sentence of two years' imprisonment and a fine of
200,000 francs shall be passed on:
1. Any trader, any person entered in the trades
register, any farmer or any paid or unpaid de jure or de facto director
of a legal person who consents to a mortgage or a charge during the period of
observation, who concludes a deed of disposal without the authorisation for
which provision is made in Article L. 621-24 or who pays all or part of a debt
which accrued before the decision to institute proceedings.
2. Any trader, any person entered in the trades
register, any farmer or any paid or unpaid de jure or de facto director
of a legal person who effects a payment in violation of the liability payment
schedule for which provision is made in the plan to continue trading or who
concludes a deed of disposal without the authorisation for which provision is
made in Article L. 621-72.
3. Any person who, knowing the debtor's
circumstances, concludes one of the deeds referred to in nos. 1 or 2 above with
the debtor or receives irregular payment from the debtor during the period of
observation or the execution of the plan to continue trading.
Article L626-9
The punishments for which provision is made in
Articles L. 626-3 to L. 626-5 shall be imposed on:
1. Any person who removes, receives or hides all
or part of the assets, chattels or real property belonging to the persons
referred to in Article L. 626-1, in their interest, none of which shall
prejudice the application of Article 121-7 of the Penal Code.
2. Any person who fraudulently declares
fictitious claims during an administrative order or winding-up proceedings
either in his own name or through an intermediary.
3. Any person acting as a trader, artisan or
farmer, either in his own name or under an assumed name, who is guilty of one
of the acts for which provision is made in Article L. 626-14.
Article L626-10
Spouses, descendants, ascendants, collaterals or
partners of the persons referred to in Article L. 626-1 who embezzle, misappropriate
or receive bills backed by the assets of a debtor subject to an administrative
order shall be sentenced to the punishment for which provision is made in
Article 314-1 of the Penal Code.
Article L626-11
In the cases for which provision is made in the
preceding Articles, the court referred to shall rule, even in the event of
acquittal:
1. ex officio on the reintegration into
the debtor's estate of any assets, rights or shares fraudulently removed and
2. on any damages sought.
Article L626-12
1. – Any, creditors' representative, liquidator or
commissioner in charge of executing the plan who:
1. willingly damages the interests of the
creditors or the debtor either by using the sums received in the performance of
his duties for his own profit or by arranging for benefits to be allocated to
him which he knows were not due;
2. uses the powers at his disposal in his own
interest, to the detriment of the interests of the creditors or the debtor,
shall be sentenced to the punishment for which
provision is made in Article 314-2 of the Penal Code.
II. – Any administrator, creditors' representative,
liquidator, commissioner in charge of executing the plan or other person, with
the exception of the controllers and salaried employees' representatives who,
having taken part in some capacity in the proceedings, directly or indirectly
acquire the debtor's assets on their own account or use them for their own
profit shall be liable to the same punishment. The court referred to
shall declare the acquisition null and void and shall rule on any damages
sought.
Article L626-13
Any creditor who concludes an agreement which includes
a specific benefit at the debtor's expense once the judgment instituting an
administrative order or winding-up proceedings have been passed, shall be
liable to the punishment for which provision is made in Article 314-1 of the
Penal Code.
The court referred to shall declare the said agreement
null and void.
Article L626-14
Any person referred to in Article L. 626-1 (2) and (3)
who, in bad faith, removes or conceals or attempts to remove or conceal all or
some of the assets of a legal person subject to a judgment instituting an
administrative order or winding-up proceedings with a view to preventing the
legal person or the partners or creditors thereof from recovering all or some
of their assets or fraudulently having themselves listed as debtors for sums
not owing to them shall be liable to the punishment for which provision is made
in Articles L. 626-3 to L. 626-5.
Article L626-15
For the purpose of the provisions of sections 1 and 2
of this chapter, the period of limitation for prosecution shall only commence
on the date of the judgment instituting the administrative order procedure if
the deeds incriminated emerged before that date.
Article L626-16
Recourse shall be taken to the criminal jurisdiction
either at the instigation of the ministère public or if the
administrator, the creditors' representative, the salaried employees'
representative, the commissioner in charge of executing the plan or the
liquidator files for damages.
Article L626-17
The ministère public may require the
administrator or liquidator to hand over all deeds and documents in their
possession.
Article L626-18
The expenses of proceedings instituted by the
administrator, the creditors' representative, the salaried employees'
representative, the commissioner in charge of executing the plan or the
liquidator shall be borne by the Treasury in the event of an acquittal.
In the event of a conviction, the Treasury may only
take recourse against the debtor once winding-up proceedings have been
completed.
Article L626-19
Judgments and convictions returned in application of
this chapter shall be published at the offender's expense.
Chapter VII: Common provisions
Article L627-1
No manner of objection to or enforcement proceedings
on sums paid to the Consignments office shall be admissible.
Article L627-2
The court-appointed receiver shall be entitled to
reimbursement of his travelling expenses from the debtor's assets.
Article L627-3
I. – Where the debtor has insufficient liquid assets
for immediate purposes, the Treasury shall advance expenses and expenses on the
instructions of the court-appointed receiver or the president of the court,
including service and publication expenses in connection with:
1. Decisions made during the course of an
administrative order or winding-up proceedings in the collective interest of
the creditors or the debtor.
2. Proceedings instituted in order to protect or
restore the debtor's assets or in the collective interest of the creditors.
3. Proceedings instituted in accordance with
Articles L. 625-3 to L. 625-6.
II. – The Treasury shall also advance expenses and
expenses on the instructions of the president of the court, including service
and publication expenses in connection with proceedings instituted to cancel or
amend the plan.
III. – These provisions shall also apply to appeals
against any of the decisions referred to above, including to the Supreme Court.
IV. – Reimbursement of Treasury advances shall be
guaranteed by the preferential right of court expenses.
Article L627-4
Any person who exercises a professional activity or
office in violation of a prohibition, forfeiture or legal incapacity in
accordance with Articles L. 625-2 and L. 625-8 shall be sentenced to two years'
imprisonment and a fine of 2,500,000 francs.
Article L627-5
Plans by the administrator, employer or liquidator, as
applicable, to dismiss the salaried employee's representative referred to in
Articles L. 621-8, L. 621-135 and L. 622-2 shall be referred to the works
council, which shall give its opinion on the planned dismissal.
The redundancy shall be subject to the consent of the
health and safety inspector responsible for the establishment. Where
there is no works council in the establishment, the health and safety inspector
shall be addressed directly.
However, in the event of serious misconduct, the
administrator, the employer or the liquidator, as applicable, may dismiss the
interested party immediately pending a final decision. If the redundancy
is refused, the dismissal shall be reversed and its consequences suppressed ipso
jure.
The protection afforded the salaried employees'
representative in the exercise of his duties in accordance with Article L.
621-36 shall cease once the creditors' representative has repaid all the sums
paid to him by the institutions referred to in Article L. 143-11-4 of the
Employment Code to the salaried employees, in application of the tenth
sub-paragraph of Article L. 143-11-7 of the said Code.
Where the salaried employees' representative performs
the duties of the works council or, where this is none, of the staff delegates
in application of Article L. 621-135, protection shall cease at the end of the
final hearing or consultation for which provision is made in the administrative
order procedure.
Chapter VIII: Provisions applicable to the departments
of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle
Article L628-1
(Law No 2003-7 of 3 January 2003 Article
50 (II) Official Gazette of 4 January 2003)
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article 37
Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
The provisions of the present Title apply to natural
persons domiciled in the Departments of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle, and to
their successors, who are neither shopkeepers nor persons listed in the trade
register, and are not farmers, if they have acted in good faith but are
manifestly insolvent.
Before a decision to initiate proceedings is taken,
the court shall, if it considers it appropriate, appoint a competent person
whose name appears on the list of approved professionals to gather full
information regarding the debtor's financial and social position.
The forfeitures and prohibitions which result from
personal bankruptcy do not apply to such persons.
The present Article's terms of implementation are
determined by decree.
Article L628-2
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article
39 Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article 39
Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
Unless the insolvency judge grants an exemption, an
inventory shall be made of the property of the persons referred to in Article
L. 628-1.
Article L628-3
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article 38 (I)
Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article 39
Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
Contrary to Article L. 621-102, no verification of
debts is carried out in connection with compulsory liquidation if it appears
that the proceeds from realisation of the assets would be entirely consumed by
the legal costs, unless the insolvency judge decides otherwise
Article L628-4
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article
40 Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
When the compulsory liquidation operations have been
completed, the court may, in exceptional cases, compel the debtor to make a
regular contribution towards settlement of the liabilities in the amount that
it determines. In such judgments, the court appoints a commissioner to oversee
execution of that obligation.
In determining the level of the contribution, the
court takes the debtor's ability to pay into account in the light of his
resources and his fixed expenses. The court shall reduce the level of the
contribution if the debtor's resources decrease or his expenses increase.
Payment thereof must be completed within two years.
The present Article's terms of implementation are
determined by decree.
Article L628-5
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article
41 Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
In addition to the cases referred to in Article L.
622-32, the creditors also recover their right to bring an individual action
against the debtor when the court, at its own initiative or at the behest of
the insolvency judge, pronounces non-fulfilment of the obligation referred to
in Article L. 628.4.
Article L628-6
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article
42 Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
Details of the judgment ordering compulsory
liquidation remain in the file referred to in Article L. 333-4 of the Consumer
Code for a period of eight years and are no longer entered in the debtor's
police record.
Article L628-7
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article
38 (I) Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
The basis of assessment and the payment arrangements
for the tax on legal expenses in cases of insolvency or compulsory liquidation
are provisionally determined pursuant to the provisions of the local laws.
Article L628-8
(Law No 2003-710 of 1 August 2003 Article
38 (I) Official Gazette of 2 August 2003)
The provisions of Article 1 of Law No. 75-1256 of 27
December 1975 relating to certain real-property sales in the Departments of
Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle cease to be applicable to the forced sale of
real property included in the assets of a debtor who has been the subject of
administration proceedings brought subsequent to 1 January 1986.
BOOK VII
Organisation of commerce
TITLE I
Chambers of commerce and industry
Chapter I: Organisation and powers
Article L711-1
Chambers of commerce and industry are agencies which
work closely with the public authorities to serve commercial and industrial
interests in their district.
They are public economic establishments.
Article L711-2
Chambers of commerce and industry are responsible for:
1. Giving the government the opinions and
information requested from them on industrial and commercial matters.
2. Presenting their views on how to increase the
prosperity of industry and commerce.
3. Ensuring, subject to the authorisation for
which provision is made in Articles L. 711-6 and L. 711-8, that the works and
the administration of the services necessary to the interests for which they
are responsible are carried out.
Article L711-3
The opinion of chambers of commerce shall be requested
on:
1. Regulations relating to commercial practice.
2. The creation of new chambers of commerce and
industry, marine brokers, tribunaux de commerce, conseils de
prud'hommes, bonded warehouses and auction rooms for new and wholesale
merchandise in their district
3. Taxes to remunerate transport services
franchised by the public authorities in their district.
4. Any matters regulated by law or special
regulations, especially the advisability of public works to be carried out in
their district and the taxes and tolls to be levied in order to meet the cost
of such works.
5. Labour tariffs for work in prisons.
Article L711-4
In addition to opinions which the government is always
entitled to ask of them, chambers of commerce and industry may issue opinions
at their own initiative on:
1. Planned changes to commercial, customs and
economic legislation.
2. Customs tariffs.
3. Tariffs and regulations for transport
services franchised by the public authorities outside their jurisdiction but
affecting their district.
4. Tariffs and regulations for commercial
establishments opened in their district under an administrative permit.
Article L711-5
Articles L. 121-4 to L. 121-6 of the Town Planning
Code reproduced below define the powers of chambers of commerce and industry to
establish master plans for locating commercial and artisan installations.
"Article L. 121-4. – Once professional bodies
have been consulted, chambers of commerce and industry and the trade chambers
shall be involved, if they so request, in establishing master plans.
The reports attached to master plans shall stipulate
the projected size of and location for preferred zones for locating various
commercial and artisan installations.
Article L. 121-5. – The economic studies needed in
order to prepare documents on the planned commercial and artisan infrastructure
may be carried out at the initiative of chambers of commerce and industry and
trade chambers.
"Article L. 121-6. – Chambers of commerce and
industry and trade chambers shall be involved, if they so request, in drawing
up land use plans for commercial and artisan installations and shall be
responsible for links with the professional associations affected."
Article L711-6
Chambers of commerce and industry may be authorised to
found and administer establishments for commercial use such as bonded
warehouses, auction rooms, depots, weapon testing grounds, packaging and
titration offices, permanent exhibitions and commercial museums, business
schools, vocational schools and courses in commercial and industrial subjects.
The administration of such establishments founded by
private initiative may be handed over to chambers of commerce and industry at
the request of the subscribers or donors.
The administration of similar establishments created
by the state, the department or the municipality may be delegated to them for
similar establishments created by the state, the department or the municipality.
The authorisation referred to in this Article shall be
granted to chambers of commerce and industry by decision of the minister in
charge of their administrative supervision unless the nature of the
establishment is such that a decree or law is needed.
Regulations and maximum tariffs shall be approved by
the minister subject to the same reservation. The actual taxes and prices
payable shall be approved by the prefect, unless the deed of institution
requires a ministerial decision.
Chambers of commerce and industry may acquire or
construct buildings for their own premises or premises for commercial
establishments subject to ministerial authorisation.
Article L711-7
Chambers of commerce and industry and trade chambers
may create training funds for traders and artisans as defined in and for the
purposes of Article L. 961-10 of the Employment Code, in liaison with
professional associations.
Article L711-8
Chambers of commerce and industry may be appointed as
franchisees of public works or to take charge of public services.
Article L711-9
Chambers of commerce and industry or trade chambers
may act as town planning project managers in agreement with the local authority
or the project agency in order to install any form of new commercial and artisan
installation in the economic and social interest, for the benefit of traders
and artisans and to help them set up, convert or relocate their business.
More importantly, they may help traders and artisans
acquire ownership [illegible] premises without any initial capital
contribution.
They may also be delegated a pre-emptive town planning
right or hold or be delegated the pre-emptive right established in deferred
planning zones in order to set up any form of commercial and artisan
installation.
Loans contracted by chambers of commerce and industry
and trade chambers in order to carry out the operations referred to above may
be guaranteed by the local authority. Chambers of commerce and industry,
trade chambers and their permanent assemblies may contract loans from the
Consignments office and the local authority facility aid fund.
Article L711-10
(Law No 2003-7 of 3 January 2003 Article
50 (II) Official Gazette of 4 January 2003)
The chambers of commerce and industry are reorganised
as regional chambers of commerce and industry. Without prejudice to the right,
which the chambers of commerce and industry retain, to form groups in order to
defend special interests which some of them have in common, the regional
chambers of commerce and industry constitute the consultative bodies for the
regional interests of commerce and industry in their dealings with the public
authorities.
The regional chambers of commerce and industry are
public institutions with legal personality.
The regrouping of the chambers of commerce and
industry into regional chambers of commerce and industry, and the remits,
organisation and administrative and financial workings of those regional
chambers of commerce and industry are determined in a Conseil d'Etat
decree.
Chapter II: Financial administration
Article L712-1
The ordinary expenses of chambers of commerce and
industry shall be covered by a tax in addition to the business tax.
Article L712-2
Chambers of commerce and industry may allocate all or
some of their surplus revenue from the management of their ordinary services to
a reserve fund for emergency or contingent expenses. The amount contained
in this fund, which must be reported in the services accounts and budget, shall
not under any circumstances exceed half the total annual resources of the said
budget.
Article L712-3
The chambers of commerce and industry referred to in
Article L. 711-1, the regional chambers of commerce and industry, cross-trade
groups and the assembly of the French chambers of commerce and industry shall
appoint at least one auditor and one deputy from the list referred to in
Article L. 225-219, who shall perform their duties in accordance with the terms
of Book II, subject to the regulations applicable to them.
The provisions of Article L. 242-27 shall apply to
them.
The sanctions for which provision is made in Article
L. 242-8 shall apply to directors who fail to draw up a balance sheet, income
statement and notes to the accounts every year. The provisions of
Articles L. 242-25 and L. 242-28 shall likewise apply to them.
Chapter
III: Election of members
of the chambers of commerce and industry and trade representatives
Article L713-1
I. – The members of chambers of commerce and industry
shall be elected for six years; half the members may be re-elected every three
years.
II. - The following persons are eligible to vote in
elections to a chamber of commerce and industry:
1. In person:
a) traders entered in the commercial and
companies register in the district of the chamber of commerce and industry;
b) the heads of undertakings entered in the
district trades and commercial and companies registers who have not asked to be
deleted from the electoral rolls of the chambers of commerce and industry;
c) spouses of the natural persons referred to
under a) or b) above who have stated in the commercial and companies register
that they assist their spouses in the business free of charge and exercise no
other professional activity;
d) long-haul captains or captains in the
merchant marine commanding a ship registered in France, the home port of which
is located in the district, inshore pilots performing their duties in a port
located in the district and civil aviation pilots domiciled in the district who
command an aircraft registered in France;
e) members in office and former members of the tribunaux
de commerce and chambers of commerce and industry who have lost their
voting rights by reason of their profession but who have requested nonetheless
that their names be retained on the electoral roll.
2. By proxy:
a) public limited companies, limited
liability companies and public commercial or industrial establishments
registered in the district;
b) the natural persons referred to under 1 a) or
b) above, the legal persons referred to under 2 a), partnerships and private
firms with an establishment in the district which has been registered as an
additional or secondary entry, unless they are exempt from the need to do so by
current laws and regulations.
Article L713-2
I. – By reason of their registered offices and all
their establishments located in the district of the chamber of commerce and
industry, the natural persons or legal persons referred to in Article L. 713-1
(1) and (2) shall have:
1. One additional representative if they employ
between ten and forty-nine salaried employees in the district of the chamber of
commerce and industry.
2. Two additional representatives if they employ
between fifty and one hundred and ninety-nine salaried employees in the
district.
3. Three additional representatives if they
employ between two hundred and four hundred and ninety-nine salaried employees
in the district.
4. Four additional representatives if they
employee between five hundred and one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
salaried employees in the district.
5. Five additional representatives if they
employee more than two thousand salaried employees in the district.
II. – However, the natural persons referred to in
Article [illegible] II (1a) and (1b) [illegible] spouse benefits from the
provisions of II (1c) of the said Article shall not appoint an additional
representative if they employ fewer than fifty salaried employees in the
district of the chamber of commerce and industry.
III. – The number of partners in the partnership or
associates in the private firm shall be deducted, if necessary, from the
electors which the private firm or partnership could have appointed in
application of the provisions of Article L. 713-1 and this Article.
Article L713-3
The representatives referred to in Articles L. 713-1
and L. 713-2 shall perform the duties either of chairman and chief executive
officer, administrator, chief executive officer, chairman or member of the
management, manager, chairman or member of the board of directors or director
of a public commercial or industrial establishment in the undertaking or, if
not and in order to represent them as agent, duties involving commercial,
technical or administrative management responsibility in the undertaking or
establishment.
The personal electors referred to in Article L. 713-1
II (1) and the proxies of the natural persons or legal persons referred to in
II (2) of the said Article shall only take part in the ballot if they meet the
terms and conditions of Article L. 2 of the Electoral Code and have not been
sentenced to one of the punishments, forfeitures or prohibitions for which
provision is made in Articles L. 5 and L. 6 of the said Code or in Article L.
625-8 or disqualified from exercising a commercial activity.
Article L713-4
Lay commercial judges shall be elected for three years
in the district of each chamber of commerce and industry by an electorate
consisting of the electors referred to in Article L. 713-1 II (1) and (2) and
the senior staff employed by the said electors in the district who perform
duties involving commercial, technical or administrative management
responsibilities in the undertaking or establishment.
The persons eligible to vote for lay commercial judges
shall only take part in the ballot if they meet the terms and conditions of the
second sub-paragraph of Article L. 713-3.
Article L713-5
The electors of lay commercial judges and members of
the chambers of commerce and industry shall be divided in each administrative
district into three professional categories relating to the commercial,
industrial or service sectors.
Electors may, if necessary, be divided within these
three categories into professional sub-categories defined on the basis either
of the size of undertakings or their specific activities.
Article L713-6
The number of seats for lay commercial judges, which
shall be no fewer than sixty and no more than six hundred, shall be determined
on the basis of the size of the lay commercial electoral body in the district,
the number of members elected from the chamber of commerce and industry and the
number of tribunaux de commerce in the district of the said chamber.
The number of seats of a chamber of commerce and
industry shall be between twenty-four and thirty-six for chambers of commerce
and industry in districts with fewer than 30,000 electors and between
thirty-eight and sixty-four for chambers of commerce and industry in districts
with 30,000 electors or more.
Article L713-7
Seats shall be divided between professional categories
and sub-categories with due account for the basis for assessment of the persons
in them, the number of persons in them and the number of [illegible] they
employ.
No one professional category may represent more than
half the number of seats.
Article L713-8
Electoral rolls shall be drawn up in the district of
the tribunal de commerce by a committee chaired by the judge in charge
of the commercial and companies register and shall be subject to the
requirements of the first sub-paragraph of Article L. 25 and Articles L. 37, L.
34 and L. 35 of the Electoral Code.
Article L713-9
Persons belonging to the electorate as defined in
Article L. 713-4 shall be eligible to serve as lay commercial judges.
Article L713-10
The following persons shall be eligible to serve as
members of a chamber of commerce and industry, provided that they are over
thirty-six years old and meet the terms and conditions of the second
sub-paragraph of Article L. 713-3:
1. Persons registered as personal voters on the
electoral roll of the corresponding district, who can prove that they were
registered on the electoral roll of the district or on the rolls of several
districts in succession for five years immediately preceding the year of the
election or that they have been entered on the commercial and companies
register for five years or that they have exercised the activities referred to
in Article L. 713-1 II (1) for the said period.
2. Persons registered on the electoral roll of
the district as proxies, who can prove that the undertaking which they
represent has been trading for five years.
3. Members in office and former members of the
chamber of commerce and industry registered on the electoral roll of the
district pursuant to Article L. 713-1 II (1), provided that they are not
exercising a liberal profession or salaried activity when they submit their
candidature.
Article L713-11
Electors shall each have as many votes as they qualify
for in application of Article L. 713-1 in order to elect members of the
chambers of commerce and industry.
Electors shall each have one vote in order to elect
lay commercial judges.
The right to vote in elections for members of chambers
of commerce and industry and lay commercial judges may be exercised by proxy or
by postal ballot in accordance with the terms and conditions set out by decree
of the Conseil d'Etat. Each elector may only have one proxy.
Article L