On May 28, 2025, the French Court of Cassation issued a ruling dismissing an appeal from Ambulances Sannac, a French company providing private ambulance services (“Sannac”) against a decision of the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) finding it had entered into anticompetitive agreements in the sector of inter-communal hospital medical transport. The appeal was dismissed entirely due to a procedural oversight[1].

Background

In February 2022, the FCA imposed a €32,600 fine on Sannac for having entered into an anti‑competitive agreement with its competitors to submit a joint bid to a tender offer[2]. The other parties settled.

On March 18, 2022, Sannac lodged an appeal with the Paris Court of Appeal. On March 25, 2022, seven days later, Sannac notified the FCA of its appeal. However, according to Article R. 464-13 of the Commercial Code, Sannac was required to notify the FCA within five days of filing the appeal, such that the appeal became void. On March 9, 2023, the ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed that Sannac’s appeal was void[3].

The Judgment of the Court of Cassation

The Court of Cassation rejected Sannac’s arguments that: i) the five-day notification requirement, and the penalty of automatic nullification of the appeal, was a disproportionate limitation on the right to a fair trial, in violation of Article 6(1) of the European Convention of Human Rights; ii) the five-day period should start running from when the registry assigns a registration number to the appeal, not from the date when the file was physically submitted.

The Court of Cassation found that: i) the notification obligation is clear and its consequences are perfectly predictable, and it does not restrict access to the Court of Appeal in a manner that would affect the substance of the right itself; ii) the obligation serves the legitimate goal of good administration of justice by allowing the FCA to be quickly informed of appeals and to transmit case files to the Court of Appeal; iii) there is a reasonable and proportional link between the sanction and the intended purpose of the notification obligation.

As Sannac had a duty to act diligently and failed to invoke any exceptional circumstances beyond its control that would have prevented timely notification, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal in its entirety. Additionally, it required Sannac to pay the court costs and €3,000 in legal fees to the FCA.

This ruling serves as a reminder that, absent any exceptional circumstances, procedural requirements designed to ensure efficient case management will be strictly enforced.

[1] Court of Cassation, Appeal n° 23-14.180, May 28, 2025, available here.

[2] FCA Decision 22-D-04 of February 2, 2022, regarding practices implemented in the sector of inter-communal hospital medical transport in the Val d’Ariège and the Pays d’Olmes, available here.

[3] Paris Court of Appeal n° 22/04851, March 9, 2025, available here.