The creation of the Institute for Business Law and of DJCE by Jean Paillusseau, Founder and Honorary Director of the Institute for Business Law

Transcription

1 The creation of the Institute for Business Law and of DJCE by Jean Paillusseau, Founder and Honorary Director of the Institute for Business Law Rennes and Business Law Since the early 1960s, Business Law has considerably grown in Rennes. Two reasons explain this development. The first one can be certainly attributed to the intellectual influence of the Dean Roger Houin. Before his departure from Rennes to the Faculty of Law of Paris, generation of students have been fascinated by his academic teaching on Business and Tax Law. The second reason can be connected to the professional experience of young teachers in legal and tax activities. They have developed a judicial and advisory activity for firms, discovered real-life situations at work, companies structures, organisation and relations, and learned a wide range of legal concepts that can t be found in libraires. This professional experience gave rise to the famous Ecole de Rennes, which had a decisive influence on legal evolutions in France and internationnaly. Simultaneous exercise of teaching and advisory activities, especially in the legal sphere, helps professors to analyse content and methods of law teaching, identify problems and find the most appropriate solutions. Liège Meetings In the 1960s, the Droit et Vie des Affaires Commission of the University of Liège organised remarkable seminars in business and company law. It was composed of both academics and lawyers of Belgian companies. Its leaders and presenters were Léon Dabin from the Faculty of Law of Liège and Charley Del Marmol, secretary general of Fabrimétal and Professor extraordinaire in this Faculty. In autumn of each year, a seminar brought together professors and lawyers from Belgian companies, as well as a large number of colleagues and lawyers from France, Switzerland, Germany, Netherland, and England. In Liege s seminars, we were all involved in discussions and reflections that didn t exist anywhere else, and that allowed us to compare our ideas. Seminars began on Thursday at 14:00 pm and ended on Saturday at 12:30 pm. This gave us the opportunity to have a two-night stay during which we could plan future projects.

2 The Agreement Between Universities Centres and Legal Practioners Associations In 1970, on the occasion of the seminar La renaissance du phénomène contractuel, while we were spending the evening with French, Belgian and Swiss participants, Jean-Marc Mousseron expressed his intention to discuss the corporate groups in the Journées d actualités du droit de l entreprise that he had just inagurated in Montpellier. I objected that this theme, by definition, could only be discussed in Rennes and nowhere else. There followed an animated discussion until a French corporate jurist suggested an interesting compromise that consisted in dividing the theme in two parts, one of which could be treated in Montpellier and the other one in Rennes. Finally, after intense discussions with our Belgian and Swiss colleagues, a global solution was adopted. We would start with a study of concentration techniques, in Montpellier in March 1971, followed by a study of corporate groups, in Rennes in May 1971 (on 13 th and 14 th May), and then by the analysis of European aspects of corporate groups, in Liège in October 1972 (on 19 th, 20 th and 21 st October), to end finally, with the analysis of their international aspects, in Geneve in May Everybody would contribute to all symposia. This was the beginning of a close relation between universities of Aix en Provence, Montpellier, Rennes, the recently constituted French Association of Company Jurists (AFJE), the French Association of Jurist Advisers and the French Association of Banking Jurists. Project Implementation This project of international symposia on corporate groups led us to ask how we could strengthen our collaboration, in which subjects, and how we could formalise it. Our first decision consisted in creating the DJCE (French: Diplôme de Juriste Conseil d Entreprise). A diploma with the same name, already existed in Montpellier. We decided to use this acronym to highlight the common vision and goals. Each centre could adapt it freely according to its needs. Concerning the institutionalisation of relations, centres and founder institutions decided to create an association (1901 law). This association was called the National Foundation for Corporate Law (French: FNDE). But the name had to be changed because, according to the French legislator, the term foundation was reserved to organisations with specific legal requirements, that we could not fulfil. The term Federation was used instead.

3 The Creation of the Institute for Business Law of Rennes. In the early 1971, together with all those who were interested in, I decided to create an Institute for Business Law as a 1901-Law association, so that Rennes could be founding member of the Federation and apply for all the activities involved (symposia, DJCE, publications, etc.). The persons involved were Claude Champaud, Jacques Béguin and Raphaël Contin. I was the Director of the Institute. Soon after our Liège agreements, I prepared the next Rennes symposium on the Corporate Group Law, in partnership with corporate jurists, like Raymond Sié and his colleagues. I did it in the name of the Institute for Business Law. This symposium was held in Rennes on 13 th and 14 th May, The official organisers were the French Association of Corporate Jurists and the Institute for Business Law of Rennes. The Institute for Business Law became immediately well known. This recognition will still increase when, in 1972, the proceedings of the Symposium appeared with the name Droit des groupes de sociétés analyses propositions. Our association with Corporate Jurists revealed extremely productive as we organised together a second symposium, on 27 th and 28 th September 1973 on the theme: L'accord industriel international. The proceedings were published in Several other symposia followed, such as, for example, Assises de Droit social de l'entreprise on 23 rd and 24 th September 1976, organised in collaboration with Syncods (the French Association of Jurists of Work Law), or L'audit juridique on 5 th and 6 th June 1977, La prévention des difficultés des entreprises, etc. The Institute for Business Law of Rennes: Founding Member of FNDE On 21 st July 1971, the FNDE statutes were adopted and signed in Paris. I signed them on behalf of the Association of Institute for Business Law of Rennes and I had wished Jacques Béguin would be present at that event. The Creation of DJCE At the beginning of 1971 new academic year, Gérard Cas from Aix en Provence, decided to create a DJCE. Personally, I decided to wait until Before summer, all programmes were established, and participants of the first quarter of the academic year had been contacted. The first promotion of DJCE would have had twelve students.

4 The unauthorized occupation of the university by FNDE and 3 centres The FNDE and three Universities centres constituting it (Aix en Provence, Montpellier and Rennes) were in a difficult legal situation toward university. They were legally considered 1901 law associations. Therefore, private organisations. But they used university offices as headquarters and university infrastructures and logistics for their activities. That situation presented problems for DJCE lessons, too. Legal entities of private law organise classes - with a significant number of participants who did not belong to the university and deliver faculty diplomas without any legal recognition on the behalf of the University, besides being directed by University teachers. Furthermore, and nevertheless important, the lack of legal relations between the three centres and their university did not allow them to have material and financing resources. This situation had to be regularised. The Establishment of Relations with University The FNDE and centres of Aix en Provence, Montpellier and Rennes decided to regularise their situation toward University by the end of Thanks to the active participation of Jacques Béguin (who was, at that time, advisor for the Directorate General of Higher Education and Research) and the help of Claude Champaud (President of the University of Rennes I), the FNDE and these three centres decided to ask for: 1) the recognition of DJCE by the University as a university diploma, 2) the recognition of the three centres as university centres. Documents were prepared by Jean-Marc Mousseron and Jacques Béguin for the purpose of an agreement between the Universities of Aix en Provence, Montpellier and Rennes, on the one hand, and the centres that there operated their activities, on the other hand. On 5 th January 1973, a meeting was held in Paris, at the Department of Education, in the office of Raymond-François Le Bris (native to Rennes, deputy director of Higher Education and Research Department). The meeting was attended by Raymond-François Le Bris, Jean-Marc Mousseron, Gérard Cas and Jacques Béguin. It was decided that : 1) DJCE would be a university diploma delivered by one of the three universities (Aix en Provence, Montpellier and Rennes) in agreement with the FNDE. The diploma would combine with the DES of Private Law; 2) every centre would clarify its status within its university, either as UER institute or university institute; 3) finance requests would be made by the centres; 4) documents would be consequently adapted (centralised and harmonised by Jacques Béguin).

5 The Creation of the DJCE as a University Diploma On 13th March 1973, after the presentation of Claude Champaud (President of the University of Rennes 1), the University Council decided to approve: 1. The terms of the agreement between the University of Rennes and the FNDE; 2. The creation of DJCE as a diploma of the University of Rennes; 3. The recognition of the Institute for Business Law as a university institute inter- UER, according to the status described below [mainly depending on the UER of Juridical Sciences, and also related to the UER of Economic Sciences, and the Management Institute] The agreement with University stated that: The University of Rennes accepts: 1) to award the status of University Institute to the Institute for Business Law depending on the UER of Juridical Sciences, and also related to the UER of Economic Sciences, and the Management Institute... "The FNDE accepts: 1) that the DJCE be awarded as a diploma of the University of Rennes..." The Institute for Business Law became a University Institute and the DJCE, formerly a private diploma, became a University Diploma. These years have been those of the foundation of what has represented for many of us a passionately extraordinary experience (my seminar at "La semaine Juridique : La merveilleuse aventure du DJCE", JCP 2007, I 140 ; JCP E 2007, 1403 ; Cahiers de droit de l'entreprise, n 2, march-april 2007, 9 Round Table and 2 : Editorial of J. Raynard). As a final remark, a special, friendly, tribute goes to all those who participated in this project, and in particular, to Jean-Marc and Gérard, whom we have lost far too early. We could have achieved nothing without them.