Why get support on your company's RGPD?

Do you need to draft a contract, CGV or CGU? Do you need to manage your company's RGPD? Our law firm specializing in commercial law in Paris assists you in all these legal procedures.

The omnipresence of contract law in our daily lives

Numerous legal rules who frame the contract formation, are just some examples that highlight the difficulties that non-lawyers and even lawyers may encounter in this field.

The formation of contracts is the subject of articles 1101 and following of the Civil Code, resulting from the reform introduced by ordinance No. 2016-131 of 10 February 2016 and the Law no. 2018-287 of 20 April 2018 ratifying the ordinance in question and making amendments to certain texts, in particular on Obligations and The contracts.

The expertise of FELLOUS AVOCATS in contract law

Contractual control of the firm FELLOUS AVOCADOS will allow you personalized support in the drafting of your contracts.

The reform that took place in 2016 is the reason why the intervention of a specialist in contract law is required in order to understand the challenges of the contract but also of limit risks of this one.

Are the parties really free in the content of their contractual provisions?

Contractual freedom as a guiding principle in contract law

A number of guiding principles exist in contract law, the best known is that of contractual freedom provided for in article 1102 of the Civil Code during the contract formation.

Thus, everyone is free to contract or not to contract, to choose their counterparty and to determine the content and form of the contract within the limits established by law.

The same is true in the context of a contract renewal.

In the area of credit, it was considered that the parties may modify the initial contractual conditions or the mandatory conditions to which they had previously voluntarily submitted (Com. May 18, 2005, No. 03-10.508).

The ins and outs of this guiding principle should be known to our customers.

The Constitutional Council recognizes contractual freedom through article 4 of the 1789 Declaration (Const. Const. Dec. 19, 2000, No. 2000-437).

Consequently, while it is open to the legislator to impose limitations on contractual freedom linked to constitutional requirements or justified by the general interest, this is provided that this does not result indisproportionate infringements in view of the objective pursued.

Limits to contractual freedom

Innumerable are the hypotheses in which the parties cannot freely use the freedom of contract.

La freedom to choose your counterparty is, for example, limited by pre-emption rights which requires the owner of a property who wishes to sell it to offer the sale of it in priority to certain persons (urban pre-emption right, tenant's right of pre-emption, right of preemption of the undivided owner).

You must be vigilant because a faulty refusal to contract is likely to engage a tortious liability (Com. April 9, 1996, no. 94-14.649)

In addition, the refusal to contract based on discriminatory reason referred to in article 225-1 of the Criminal Code constitutes an offense.

In addition, the freedom to choose the form of the contract is limited by the legal form requirements required under penalty of nullity.

This is the case of a donating Or of a Sale of building which should be written in the form of a Notarial act.

Handwritten notes must be explicitly indicated when it comes to the bond.

How to limit risks in a contract?

The clause as a functional element in contract law

A contract clause is a portion of text written in a specific legal purpose.

In other words, the purpose of a contractual clause is to define a need, a privilege, a upright, a Due date Or a specific obligation.

However, it is necessary to have a careful reading of these clauses, which can sometimes lead to prejudice to one of the parties.

In contracts, we encounter a diversity of clauses such as clauses pénales, de non-concurrence, d’exclusivité, de mobilité, de confidentialité, résolutoires, ou encore les clauses attributives de juridiction.

Attention aux clauses abusives

Certaines clauses peuvent avoir un caractère dangereux, entraînant de lourdes conséquences.

C’est le cas des clauses abusives.

L’article 1171 du Code civil, innovation de la réforme du droit des contrats introduite par l’ordonnance n° 2016-131 du 10 février 2016, est une disposition générale qui vise à prohiber les clauses abusives qui ne portent ni sur l’objet principal du contrat ni sur l’adéquation du prix à la prestation.

Elles peuvent être relevées par exemple, lorsqu’elles violent les règles en matière de droit du travail ou de la convention collective, au détriment du salarié.

Désormais, pour qu’une clause de non-concurrence soit valablement insérée dans le contrat de travail d’un salarié, elle ne doit pas être abusive, à savoir, limitée dans le temps, dans l’espace, et enfin donner droit à un dédommagement en contrepartie.

Pour rappel, avant l’ordonnance de 2016, cette prohibition n’était applicable qu’aux seules relations entre professionnels et consommateurs et ce, en vertu de à l’ancien article L. 132-1 du Code de la consommation devenu, depuis l’entrée en vigueur de la réforme des obligations, l’article L. 212-1 du même Code.

L’importance de la rédaction solide des Conditions Générales d’Utilisation (CGU) et de vente (CGV) d’un site commercial

Pour bien différencier les deux, il nécessaire d’indiquer que les Conditions générales d’Utilisation (CGU) vont régir les modalités d’utilisation d’un site Internet ou d’une application mobile alors que les Conditions générales de Vente (CGV) vont déterminer la relation commerciale qui existe entre un professionnel et le client d’un site marchand (site e-commerce).

Plus précisément, quel est le rôle des conditions générales d’utilisation (CGU) ?

Les conditions générales d’utilisation, ne sont certes, pas obligatoires, mais elles ont vocation à être utilisées sur tous les sites internet y compris non commerciaux.

Elles informent les utilisateurs du site quant à leurs obligations et quant à la responsabilité de l’éditeur du site, notamment en termes de règles relatives à la protection des droits de propriété intellectuelle de collecte des données personnelles fournies.

La protection des données à caractère personnel constitue vraisemblablement l’un des enjeux majeurs de la rédaction des Conditions Générales d’Utilisation, n’est-ce pas ?

Il est évident que la collecte des données personnelles fournies par l’utilisateur doit faire l’objet d’une attention particulière pour les éditeurs de sites web.

Le règlement européen relatif à la protection des données à caractère personnel du 27 avril 2016 (Règl. (UE) n°2016/679 du 27 avril 2016) a fortement impacté le contenu des conditions générales d’utilisation en imposant une information générale relative à la collecte et au traitement des données à caractère personnel des utilisateurs du site.

S’agissant du consentement de l’utilisateur quant aux CGU, dès lors que l’utilisateur a pu avoir connaissance des CGU de façon incontestable (bandeau, fenêtre qui s’ouvre dès l’entrée sur le site, etc.) et qu’il a continué sa navigation sur le site, il manifeste sa volonté de les accepter.

Ce consentement doit résulter d’un acte positif.

Le consentement express de l’utilisateur par le biais d’une case à cocher manifestant l’acceptation des CGU du site est admis.

En revanche, la simple navigation sur le site ne suffira pas à obtenir le consentement de l’utilisateur.

Dans quels cas les CGU pourront être opposables à l’utilisateur ?

Pour être opposables à l’utilisateur, elles devront être acceptées certes, mais ce n’est pas tout.

Les CGU doivent être lisibles et intelligibles.

En l'absence d'une visibilité très claire des CGU, il est impossible pour l'éditeur du site internet de se prévaloir des conditions inscrites dans un contrat qu'il n'a pas fait lire à un utilisateur.

La Cour de cassation impose une acceptation formelle des conditions générales d'utilisation par les utilisateurs, pour leur être opposables :

« La simple mise en ligne de ces dernières, accessibles par un onglet à demi dissimulé en partie inférieure de l’écran, ne suffit pas à mettre à la charge des utilisateurs des services proposés une obligation de nature contractuelle. (…) L'accès à la page d’accueil des sites m6 replay et w9 replay, aux menus et aux programmes à revoir était libre et direct et ne supposait ni prise de connaissance ni acceptation préalable des conditions générales d’utilisation » (Cass, 1ère Civ, 31 octobre 2012, n°11-20.480).

What is the content of the general conditions of use (CGU)?

The T&Cs will generally include general conditions of sale, the privacy policy And cookies.

Various mandatory information corresponding to legal notices must also be contained in the CGU.

For an individual who publishes a non-commercial site, he must mention: the noun, the First name, theaddress And the telephone number of the host.

The individual entrepreneur or the professional natural person must indicate their noun, First name and domicile.

The company will have to indicate its Company name, her legal form, theHead office address And the amount of its share capital.

In all cases, the professional must indicate: sound registration number in the commercial and companies register (RCS) or at Directory of trades (RM).

If it is a craftsman, his tax identification number (Intra-community VAT number).

Les general terms and conditions of sale (CGV) if it is a merchant site (price, date and delivery costs, payment terms, right of withdrawal, etc.).

If it is a regulated profession, the applicable professional rules and the name and address of the authority that issued the license to practice should also be indicated.

What are the General Terms and Conditions of Sale (GTC) of a website for?

It is a set of written clauses that aim to oversee contractual relationships with customers, professionals or individuals, to whom the supply of goods or services is made.

Do they have a legal definition?

They are governed through thearticle L.441-1 of the Commercial Code.

Organized in four distinct parts, it specifies: contents, theobligation to communicate, the role And the sanctions provided in the event of failure to communicate the GTC.

The terms and conditions must include terms of payment as well as the elements of price determination, and in particular the Unit price schedule And the possible price reductions.

When the price of a service cannot be determined a prima facie, the service provider is required to communicate the price calculation method Or a quote.

Drafting must be done sufficiently Claire and specifies.

For example, it was considered that despite the means already implemented (general conditions of use that draw users' attention to the risks of fraud, the implementation of a program that makes it possible to report the presence of illicit objects, the frequently asked questions devoted in particular to counterfeiting, the technical means used to prevent ads using keywords such as “copy, fake or replica”) by eBay companies, this was clearly not enough to effectively warn users of the risks that they encourage to sell/buy counterfeit objects, to attest to the authenticity of the objects they are offering for sale, when this is false and to ensure that the owners of intellectual property rights the preservation of their interests (TGI Troyes, June 4, 2008, Hermès International c/ Madame Cindy F, eBay France and eBay International).

The terms and conditions must be communicated to all buyers who request them.

A judgment of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on 5 July 2012 recalls the seller's obligation to communicate In writing or through a “sustainable support” the CGV, in accordance with the requirements of article 5 of the European directive of 5 May 1997.

The terms and conditions must constitute “the single basis for commercial negotiation”.

In case of failure to communicate the GTC, an administrative fine may be imposed by the DGCCRF.

It cannot exceed 15,000€ for a natural person and 75,000€ for a legal entity.

Concretely, what risks can they be used to protect ourselves against?

Quite simply, the possession of CGV will allow you to be in compliance with the law, but also prevent customer disputes And ofavoid disputes with suppliers.

Customers will then be informed about the conditions of sale and payment, before the establishment of the commercial relationship.

This desire goes in the direction of strengthening the obligation to provide information whether between professionals or between professionals and consumers, since the Hamon law in 2014.

In the context of a dispute, the publisher of the website and seller may indicate to his buyer that he behaved in accordance with the GTC that had been communicated to him beforehand.

Adopt a privacy policy in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

La privacy policy of a website or an application such as Instagram, Facebook or Tiktok must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation.

Indeed, the RGPD regulates the processing of personal data on the territory of the European Union.

In what legal context does the necessary compliance of the processing of personal data with the RGPD take place?

It should be remembered that every human being benefits from right to privacy.

This fundamental freedom is enshrined in numerous international texts such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 12), the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (art. 8), the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (art. 7).

The evolution of technologies in our society and the development of online commerce have revealed new problems in terms of right to privacy.

The personal data of individuals, to know any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, are used by website editors.

This new European regulation is then in line with the French Data Protection Act of 1978 and reinforces the control by citizens of the use that can be made of data concerning their private sphere.

Who does it concern?

The privacy policy applies to anyone who collects personal data.

Thus, as soon as personal data is collected from the website, its owner has important obligations to respect towards the persons concerned.