Written agreement
Failure to include the price of commercial cooperation services in annual agreements constitutes a breach of current Article L. 441-3 of the Commercial Code, even if they are negotiated and invoiced by foreign central purchasing agencies, when supplier payments are passed on to the French distributor and the services are rendered in France.
TA Paris, 7 November 2023, No 2205984

Sudden termination of established commercial relations
Failure to comply with the brand’s quality standards, as uncovered and confirmed by three successive audits, despite the approved repairer’s commitment to ongoing compliance, justifies immediate termination of the established commercial relationship.
T. com. CA Bordeaux, 6 November 2023, No 2020F00349

Professional secrecy
The Constitutional Council has censured the provisions concerning the confidentiality of corporate lawyers’ opinions contained in the Ministry of Justice’s 2023-2027 Framework and Programming Law (loi d’orientation et de programmation), on the grounds that they constitute a legislative rider (cavalier législatif).
Cons. constit., 16 November 2023, No 2023-855 DC

Liability for defective products
Pursuant to Article 1245-17 of the Civil Code, liability for defective products is without prejudice to the rights of the victim of damage under contractual or extra-contractual liability law, or under a special liability regime, as a result of which the victim may claim compensation on the basis of Article 1240, if it is established that the damage is the result of a fault on the part of the producer, such as maintaining in circulation the product known to be defective, or failing to exercise due care with regard to the risks presented by the product.
Cass. 1re civ, 15 November 2023, No 22-21.179

In declaring that an action based on Articles 1245 et seq. of the Civil Code by the victim of harm caused by a defective drug is time-barred, a court of appeal cannot find that the writ of summons was issued more than three years after knowledge of the harm was acquired at the date of the National Medical Compensation Board (ONIAM) opinion, and that tort liability for fault cannot be substituted for liability for defective products, since the fault alleged against the laboratory in the form of a breach of its duty of vigilance and surveillance in marketing a drug of which it was aware of the risks, or in failing to withdraw the drug from the French market, is not – unlike in other European countries – distinct from the safety defect in the drug itself, whereas liability for defective products does not preclude the application of other contractual or extra-contractual liability regimes based on different grounds, such as warranty against latent defects or fault.
Cass. 1re civ, 15 November 2023, No 22-21.178