The international law firm Salans recently obtained a fundamental ruling before the 1st Civil Chamber of the French Supreme Court on an issue of private international law which had so far never been settled in France (Cass. civ. January 28, 2009, appeal No. U 07-11.729).
The Supreme Court found that an American decision of contempt of court ordering a sanction of 13,107,207 US dollars complied with French public policy. It ruled that this sanction was not contrary to the principle of proportionality laid down by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and by the European Convention on Human Rights and that it could be enforced in France.
This decision is particularly interesting in that it was rendered in a case of embezzlement using a similar process to the Madoff Case (otherwise known as the Ponzi Scheme) and should be a source of much legal commentary.
Paul de Drée, Claire Picard and Katia Boneva-Desmicht from Salans' Paris office advised the American Receiver who was appointed when interim measures were ordered to recover the embezzled assets.
Contacts
Paola Pozzi-Dazza, Marketing and Communication Manager
Tel.: 01 42 68 92 72
Fax: 01 42 68 70 60
E-mail: ppozzi@salans.com