Bulletin n. 2/2011
October 2011
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Fernandez-Maublanc Lucienne-Victoire
    Portée en droit fiscal français du droit de toute personne de ne pas contribuer à sa propre incrimination
    in Revue de l'Union européenne/Revue du Marché Commun et de l'Union européenne , n. 550, juillet-août ,  2011 ,  476-479
    Can community taxation law ignore the contributions of the European Court of Human Rights in the fiscal area. Without even having to get into the debate on the issue of the European Union's adherence to the Convention, it is obvious that practice includes Human Rights in community taxation law, in international conventional fiscal law. The public freedom spirit is already found in the implementation of major liberties guaranteed by community law for domestic taxation other than VAT. Such integration of public liberties meets the very definition of tax law, which was never limited, in history, to a simple taxation technique. But breakthroughs are sometimes slow and disappointing. The likening of tax penalties to accusations in criminal law, in the meaning of article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, was a major breakthrough in tax payer protection. However, the potential of the fair proceedings is having a hard time fining its way in French taxation, and a recent decision by the state Council provides a new example of that. In a ruling dated March 17, 2010, SARL Café de la Paix (re n= 309197), the State Council rules that the penalty of article 175 of the General Taxation Code, which punishes a legal entity refusing to name the beneficiary of distributed income, does not breach the right of any person not to contribute to his or her own incrimination, guaranteed by the EDH Convention nor the right of any person accused of a criminal offence not to be forced to testify against himself, provided for by the New York international agreement relating to civil and political rights. In doing so, the French administrative High Court gave a narrow interpretation of that guarantee that French taxation law is found not to breach. More generally, the scope of the EDH Convention in tax law would need to be reinforced, whereas in the same time, the State Council is prone to implementing case law interpretations by the Luxembourg Court.
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