Information Note on the Court’s case-law 56

September 2003

Breisacher v. France (dec) - 76976/01

Decision 26.8.2003 [Section II]

Article 34

Non-governmental organisation

Application lodged by a person wishing to act in the defence of the interests of a local authority: inadmissible

The applicant was granted leave to claim civil damages in place of the City of Paris in a judicial investigation into misappropria tion of which the City of Paris was alleged to be the victim in a public tendering procedure. The applicant took advantage of the possibility available to a taxpayer of a municipality to exercise, with leave of the administrative court, the actions which h e believes the municipality should have brought but which it has failed to exercise.

Inadmissible under Article 34: The applicant is acting not in his personal capacity but in place of the City of Paris in defending the latter’s interests. Independently o f the fact that the applicant is not the City of Paris’s legal representative, it has consistently been held that a municipality is a legal person governed by public law and must be classified as a governmental organisation: incompatible ratione personae .

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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