The government grants the Anticor association new approval to act as a civil party in political and financial cases

The administrative court had ordered the government to make a decision within 24 hours, or face a financial penalty.

It will be able to fight corruption again. After months of struggle, the anti-corruption association Anticor is once again approved to be a civil party in political and financial cases, its president announced on X, Thursday, September 5.

“The Anticor association regains its approval to act as a civil lawyer in public probity matters”reported the president of the association Paul Cassia on X. “This is one of the last acts signed by Gabriel Attal in his capacity as head of government, which thus executed the decision of the administrative court of September 4.”the manager said.

This approval allows Anticor to initiate proceedings by filing a complaint with civil action, which results, with some exceptions, in the opening of a judicial investigation. It also allows it to constitute itself as a civil party in anti-corruption proceedings already in progress and thus to access the file, transmit documents, requests for acts or witness hearings to the investigating judge.

The association had lost this approval in June 2023, by decision of the Paris administrative court. Two dissidents of the association had taken legal action on the grounds that Anticor did not meet the conditions required by the approval, in particular its ability to prove the independent and disinterested nature of its activities and to inform its members about its management.

Anticor had filed a new application for approval, to which the executive did not respond within the time limit, which was tantamount to an implicit refusal. The association therefore brought the matter before the administrative court in early August to obtain the annulment of this implicit refusal. The administrative court had already, by decision dated 9 August, “orders the Prime Minister to reconsider the request for approval” of the association “within fifteen days”which he did not do. The association therefore asked the court on Wednesday to “move to the next level”which was done in a decision on Wednesday, imposing “re-examine the application for approval submitted by the Anticor association (…) within 24 hours”, subject to a penalty of 1,000 euros per day of delay upon expiry of this period.