The Council of
State (Conseil d’État) on
the report of the 4th sub-section of the Legal section
No. 248192-248204- Session of October 28, 2002, reading
of November 29, 2002
CONSEIL NATIONAL DES GROUPES ACADEMIQUES DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT PUBLIC, UNSA and
others
Complete text of the Decision
Considering 1), under No.
248192, the request registered on June 26, 2002, at the Council of State’s
legal proceedings office, presented by the CONSEIL NATIONAL DES GROUPES
ACADEMIQUES DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT PUBLIC, UNSA, asking the Council of State to
repeal, due to excess of power, the Decree of April
19, 2002, issued by the Minister of National Education regarding the
introduction of an immersion bilingual education system in regional languages
at “regional language” primary and secondary schools, and the Circulars No. 2002-103 and 2002-104 of
Considering 2), under No.
248204, the request registered on
1) to repeal, due to excess of power, the Decree of April 19, 2002, issued by the Minister of National Education, regarding the introduction of a bilingual immersion education system in regional languages at “regional language” schools, the Circular No. 2002-103 of April 30, 2002, regarding the introduction of an immersion bilingual education system in regional languages at “regional language” primary and secondary schools, and the Circular No. 2002-104 of April 30, 2002, regarding the recruitment and training of the “regional language” primary and secondary school staff;
2) to order the State to pay them an amount of 4,500 € in pursuance of Article L. 761-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice;
Considering the other parts of the files;
Considering the Constitution, especially Article 2;
Considering the Education Code;
Considering the Act No.
94-665 of
Considering the Code of Administrative Justice;
Having heard in public session:
- the report issued by Mme Picard, Master of Requests[*] ,
- the observations made by SCP Peignot, Garreau, barrister of UNSA EDUCATION and others, and by SCP Vier, Barthélemy, barrister of the Diwan association,
- the conclusions reached by M. Schwartz, Public Prosecutor;
On the merging:
Considering that the requests registered under No. 248192 and 248204 adress the same questions; that there is reason to merge them in order to issue a single decision on it;
On the intervention of the Diwan association:
Considering that the Diwan association has an interest to maintain the prosecuted decisions; that its intervention is consequently admissible;
On the conclusions
addressed against the Minister of National Education’s Decree of
Without it being necessary to examine the other arguments of the request:
Considering that in the terms of Article 2 of the Constitution: “The language of the Republic is French”; that by virtue of Article 1 of the Act of August 4, 1994, “the French language (...) is the language of education, work, exchanges and public services”; that in the terms of Article L. 121-1 of the Education Code: “Primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions are in charge to transmit and provide knowledge and working methods (...) This training may comprehend a learning, at all levels, of regional languages and cultures”; that in the terms of Article L. 121-3 of the same code, derived from Article 11 of the Act of August 4, 1994: “The language of education, exams and contests, as well as theses and papers within the public and private education institutions is French, except for justified cases for the needs of education of regional or foreign languages and cultures, or when the teachers are associate teachers or have been invited to come from overseas. / Foreign schools or schools especially open to receive foreign nationality students, as well as institutions providing an international education, are not subject to this obligation”; that in the terms of Article L. 312-11 of the same code: “Teachers are authorised to resort to regional languages at nursery and primary schools, if they can make profit out of it as a teaching method, especially for the study of the French language”;
Considering that the
prosecuted Decree foresees that “at teaching centres
where an academic council of regional languages has been created in pursuance
of the above-mentioned Decree of July 31,
2001, a bilingual education system based on the so-called immersion method
may be introduced by the regional education authority for every student at
“regional language” primary and secondary schools, having previously consulted
the academic council of regional languages (...)”; that in the terms of Article
2 of the same Decree “the bilingual education system based on the so-called
immersion method is characterised by the main use of
the regional language, not excluding French as education language, as the
teaching language. The use of the regional language in everyday life at
“regional language” schools and institutions is encouraged; that Circular No.
2002-103 of
Considering that according to the so-called immersion” method, which was introduced by means of the Minister of National Education’s Decree of April 19, 2002, and Circular No. 2002-103 of April 30, 2002, which supplements it, the regional language is used, both exclusively at nursery schools and as the main language for education and communication at primary and secondary schools and institutions; that the defined modalities of regional language learning, according to which the activities of the different domains foreseen by the programmes are practiced in regional language, by limiting the teaching in French in primary education to the learning of the French language and of mathematic notions and in secondary education to two disciplines per grade; that such prescriptions go beyond the learning needs of a regional langugae and surpass the possibilities of derogation of the obligation to use French as education language, which is authorised by the provisions in Articles L. 121-3 and L. 312-11 of the Education Code; that, therefore, the provisions of the Decree of April 19, 2002, and of Circular No. 2002-103 of April 30, 2002, fail to recognise these legislative provisions; that, therefore, the applicant trade unions and groups are authorised to demand the repeal
On the conclusions addressed against the Circular No. 2002-104 of April 30, 2002:
Without it being necessary to issue a decision on the admissibility of these conclusions:
Considering that, in pursuance of the prosecuted Circular, which establishes the conditions under which the teaching and non-teaching staff at “regional language” primary and secondary schools may be affected and may benefit from adapted formations, the Minister of National Education has taken the necessary dispositions into account for the serviceable condition of the Administration under his authority, without failing to recognise the statutory provisions of the body to which belong the people concerned, and commiting an infringement upon the Finance Act’s domain; that, therefore, these conclusions cannot but be discarded,
On the conclusions of application of Article L. 761-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice:
Considering that the circumstances of the case in question allow for the application of these provisions and for the order which obliges the State to pay to UNSA EDUCATION, to the FEDERATION DES CONSEILS DE PARENTS D’ELEVES DES ECOLES PUBLIQUES, to the SYNDICAT DES ENSEIGNANTS UNSA and to the FEDERATION DES DELEGUES DE L’EDUCATION NATIONALE the amount of 3,000 €, on the basis of the costs exposed by them and not included in the expenses;
DECIDES:
Article 1: The intervention of the Diwan association has been admitted.
Article 2: The Decree of April 19, 2002, issued by the Minister of National Education, regarding the introduction of an “immersion” bilingual education system in regional languages at “regional language” primary and secondary schools, and Circular No. 2002-103 of April 30, 2002, issued by the Minister of National Education, have been repealed.
Article 3: The State is ordered to pay 3,000 € to UNSA EDUCATION, to the FEDERATION DES CONSEILS DE PARENTS D’ELEVES DES ECOLES PUBLIQUES, to the SYNDICAT DES ENSEIGNANTS UNSA and to the FEDERATION DES DELEGUES DE L’EDUCATION NATIONALE, in pursuance of Article L. 761-1 of the Code of Administrative Justice.
Article 4: The surplus of the conclusions of the requests has been rejected.
Article 5: The present Decision shall be notified to UNSA EDUCATION, to the FEDERATION DES CONSEILS DE PARENTS D’ELEVES DES ECOLES, to the SYNDICAT DES ENSEIGNANTS UNSA, to the FEDERATION DES DELEGUES DE L’EDUCATION NATIONALE, to the CONSEIL NATIONAL DES GROUPES ACADEMIQUES DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT PUBLIC, to the Diwan association and to the Minister of Youth, of National Education, and of Research.
Non-official Translation
Source: Mercator