FRA-2002-3-007
a)  France / b)  Constitutional Council / c) / d)  26-09-2002 / e) / f)  Decisions concerning the campaign accounts of the 16 candidates in the presidential election of 21 April and 5 May 2002 (16 decisions) / g)  Journal officiel de la République française - Lois et Décrets (Official Gazette), 12.10.2002, 16865 to 16882 / h)  CODICES (French).
 
Keywords of the systematic thesaurus:
 
 
Institutions - Elections and instruments of direct democracy - Electoral campaign and campaign material - Campaign financing.
Institutions - Elections and instruments of direct democracy - Electoral campaign and campaign material - Campaign expenses.
 
Keywords of the alphabetical index:
 
Election, presidential, candidature, sponsorship / Election, electoral expenses, reimbursement / Election, campaign, accounts, approval, rejection.
 
Headnotes:
 
Participation in an election campaign by municipal employees, while on duty, breaches Article L. 52-8, which bans assistance by legal persons other than those of a political nature. A deliberate breach of those provisions constitutes a ground for rejecting campaign accounts and disqualifying a candidate from reimbursement of campaign expenses by the state.
 
The following constitute grounds for adjusting accounts, resulting in a reduction in the amount of the reimbursement a candidate may expect from the state: erroneous inclusion of personal items of expenditure in electoral expenses (excessive clothing expenses or travel or entertainment costs having no connection to the election); inclusion of the full cost of a durable good (e.g. a photocopier or a vehicle) whereas only wear and tear associated with its use, i.e. depreciation, should be taken into account.
 
Summary:
 
Candidates in presidential elections, each of whom must obtain at least 500 "supporting signatures", are placed on a list drawn up by the Constitutional Council after counting the sponsorship forms received from approximately 40 000 duly authorised elected representatives. Those candidates must file campaign accounts, which are checked by the Constitutional Council after the election to ensure they are in order. These accounts must be submitted not more than two months after the election. Accounts should be kept by a financial representative appointed by the candidate. Candidates must not exceed a limit on expenses, which was set at 14 796 000 euros for the first round of the 2002 presidential election, and 19 764 000 euros for each candidate standing for election in the second round.
 
The penalty for failure to file accounts, exceeding the limit on expenses or rejection of accounts (by reason of a breach of the rules governing expenses, income or the balancing of accounts, or for omissions in or dishonest accounting) is not ineligibility to stand for election or cancellation of the election results, but disentitlement to reimbursement of all or part of campaign expenses by the state.
 
On 26 September 2002 the Constitutional Council accordingly gave its decisions concerning the accounts of each of the sixteen candidates in the presidential election. It rejected only one set of accounts (on the ground that a local authority had assisted the candidate's campaign), approved two outright and approved the thirteen others after adjustment.
 
Supplementary information:
 
A full file of documentary information on the presidential election of 21 April and 5 May 2002 can be found on the Constitutional Council's web-site at the following address: http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/dossier/presidentielles/2002/index.htm.
 
Languages:
 
French.