00:00The Court of Cassation adopted a different position from that which the Council of State was then maintaining.
00:04In this case, a company is challenging a French tax rule in light of the treaty establishing the European Economic Community.
00:11The difficulty arises from the fact that the national law is subsequent to the treaty.
00:15The Court of Cassation agrees to review the compatibility of the law with the treaty and to give precedence to this
00:20last in case of contradiction.
00:22Therefore, she does not consider that the later date of the law prevents the judge from setting aside its application.
00:27The significance of this decision is twofold. On the one hand, it gives concrete effect to Article 55 of
00:33the Constitution.
00:34On the other hand, it shows that the review of conformity with international conventions can be carried out by an ordinary judge without this
00:39constitutes a review of constitutionality.
00:42As a matter of fact, the Court of Cassation recognized, as early as 1975, the superiority of a treaty over a subsequent national law.
00:49The Council of State would not join this position until 1989 with Niccolo.
