NGOs Sherpa and ActionAid France’s claim against Samsung France on the ground of deceptive marketing practices was declared inadmissible, and the indictment of the company annulled...

In this case, Samsung argued that the NGOs did not have the approval by the Ministry of Justice that is required to file a complaint on the ground of deceptive marketing practices. The multinational company concluded that the complaint was to be declared inadmissible, and that the whole proceeding was to be retroactively annulled. ActionAid France and Sherpa, on the contrary, consider that the absence of such ministerial approval does not affect the admissibility of their complaint. They were not followed...

For ActionAid France and Sherpa, taking credit for ethical commitments and not respecting them amounts to deceptive marketing practices in the sense of criminal consumer law. After a long legal battle initiated by the two NGOs in 2013, Samsung Electronics France was charged on this basis in 2019...

...The NGOs’ claim has been declared inadmissible, and the indictment has been annulled. But the two organisations have lodged an appeal before the French Supreme Court....