four questions on the “implicit” non-renewal of Anticor’s approval by the government

Without this approval, the Anticor association can no longer take legal action in corruption cases. A decision described as a “Christmas gift to corruptors” by the NGO’s lawyer, who will challenge it before administrative justice.

Anticor waited in vain for the decision to come down. The association for the fight against corruption and attacks on integrity announced, Wednesday, December 27, “faced with an implicit refusal” of the government to renew its approval, granted for three years, which allows it to take legal action in cases that fall within its expertise. The deadline to renew it expired at midnight, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, and the executive did not communicate any decision.

“This decision does not surprise us unfortunately”reacted the president of the NGO, Elise Van Beneden, to franceinfo, “because we are well aware that our actions against corruption deeply annoy the government”. He did not justify his choice. Return in three questions on this decision, which illustrates the complicated relationships between justice and politics.

1 What is this approval for?

Approval is essential to allow Anticor to intervene in cases of alleged corruption. Without this key, the association can still report facts to the courts, but can no longer take legal action. A complaint with the constitution of a civil party necessarily leads to the appointment of an investigating judge. “This approach is fundamental, since it makes it possible to circumvent the decision of a prosecutor, whose career depends on the government, to close a sensitive political-financial case without further action”explained the president of Anticor to franceinfo.

By becoming a civil party, Anticor was going to collect a political-financial file from the office of a prosecutor to submit it to the office of an investigating judge, who is constitutionally independent.

Elise Van Beneden, president of Anticor

at franceinfo

This power conferred by the approval allowed the association “ to prevent impunity and to promote, to the extent possible [ses] forces, equality before the law, by saying loud and clear that elected officials are not super-citizens and that they must be accountable to the justice system and, through it, to citizens.”, continues Elise Van Beneden. Thus, the implicit non-renewal noted on Wednesday is “a Christmas present for corrupters”, denounces Anticor’s lawyer, Vincent Brengarth, on X (formerly Twitter).

Created in 2002, Anticor is involved in more than 160 procedures, including the investigation into the attribution of the Football World Cup to Qatar and the prosecution for “illegal taking of interests” targeting the secretary general of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler . It is thus, according to the terms of World , “one of the most active scratchers in the Republic”. Complaints from Anticor also led to proceedings concerning the sale of Alstom’s energy branch to General Electric, or a preliminary investigation into contracts in Russia by Alexandre Benalla, former project manager to the President of the Republic. , Emmanuel Macron.

2 Who was responsible for renewing this status?

The question had already arisen in April 2021. The renewal of Anticor’s approval for three years did not go without difficulty. And for good reason: the association had just filed a complaint for “illegal taking of interests” against the person responsible for issuing it, namely the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupont-Moretti. It was therefore the Prime Minister at the time, Jean Castex, who issued the decree renewing Anticor’s approval.

This time again, the procedure was subject to a deportation by the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, in favor of the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne. But on December 23, the latter was also deported at the last minute, entrusting this task to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, by decree.

3 Why is approval currently on hold?

In 2021, when he renewed Anticor’s approval for what was to be a period of three years, Jean Castex expressed reservations. The analysis of the association’s request highlighted “a lack of internal transparency on the donations collected, the association not having been able to justify compliance with its own procedures to ensure the effective information of the members of its Board of Directors, at least until May 2020”. The Prime Minister’s press release also mentioned “a challenge to the conditions for renewal of the Board of Directors in June 2020, as part of a contentious action brought by some of the members of the association”.

The decree signed by Jean Castex mentioned that “lack of transparency” on a donation representing “nearly 17% of resources” of Anticor in 2020 could “raise doubt about [son] selfless and independent character” and that the association had not “not, in the past, guaranteed the information of its members” on his finances. But he granted approval, observing that Anticor had “manifested the intention” of “have an auditor” and planned “an overhaul of its statutes”.

These points had already been raised within Anticor, in a climate of internal dissension recounted by The world . After Jean Castex’s decision, two members of Anticor seized the administrative court to contest the decree, considering that all the conditions for approval were not met and that the renewal procedure was irregular. The courts finally canceled the approval in June, pointing out ” an error of law” : the administration cannot “grant approval to an association which does not meet the conditions” based on the fact that she “would have committed to taking corrective measures”wrote the court in its decision.

The association, which assured to fulfill “all conditions” to obtain approval, immediately submitted a new application. The government had to respond within a deadline which expired at midnight on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. Anticor management says it does not know why it did not receive a positive response. During the six months of investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Affairs and Pardons of the Ministry of Justice”, no reproaches have been made against the association”she assured onWednesday.

4 What recourse does the association have?

Without response on its status, Anticor announced “contest this decision before the administrative justice”. Elise Van Beneden also said to herself “in a way relieved to finally be able to demonstrate that the association meets all the criteria to be approved, sheltered from the political considerations of the government.” In August, the association had already filed an appeal before the Paris administrative court to contest the cancellation of the approval granted in 2021.

Waiting for, “no Anticor member needs government authorization to exercise the constitutional right to hold those who govern us accountable,” she already commented on Tuesday evening.