An appeal has been filed by the anti-corruption association Anticor before the Paris administrative court of appeal, AFP learned from one of its lawyers. This appeal contests the cancellation of the authorization which allowed him to intervene in anti-corruption cases. The appeal, co-signed by lawyers Vincent Brengarth and Virginie Claqué Heylliard, requests the cancellation of the judgment of the Paris administrative court which, in June, canceled the decree renewing this judicial approval.
The examination of this appeal by the administrative court of appeal “should not take place for several months”, indicated Me Brengarth, contacted by AFP. Another request, co-signed by the same lawyers, requests the suspension of the effects of the decision of the administrative court until the administrative court of appeal rules on the merits. Regarding this request for a stay, “the procedure requires that the court decide quickly”, indicated Mr. Brengarth.
On June 23, the Paris administrative court canceled a decree signed in April 2021 by then Prime Minister Jean Castex, which renewed the approval granted to Anticor for three years. Seized by two dissidents of the NGO, the court considered that the decree contained an “error of law”. In its appeal, the association asked that the two men at the origin of the complaint before the administrative court be ordered to pay it 3,000 euros.
Founded in 2002, Anticor is involved in 159 proceedings, according to its president Élise Van Beneden, including the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar, the investigation into illegal taking of interests targeting the secretary general of the Élysée Alexis Kohler, or that against Éric Dupond-Moretti before the Court of Justice of the Republic – which is why the renewal was signed by Jean Castex and not the Minister of Justice. More recently, complaints from Anticor led to lawsuits over the sale of Alstom’s energy business to General Electric and a preliminary investigation into Alexandre Benalla’s Russian contracts.
Without the approval, it will be very difficult for it to initiate new proceedings and its presence will be called into question in the cases where the association had instituted civil proceedings after April 2021. In addition to these appeals before the administrative court of appeal, the NGO filed, as soon as the decision of the administrative court, a new request for approval from the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, for the moment without answer.
“Accreditation is key to Anticor’s role in fighting corruption. We need it more than ever,” Brengarth told AFP.
