Key Benefits:
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Solidarity, Health and the Family, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and Seal Guard, Minister of Justice,
Considering the social security code, including title II of Book VII;
Having regard to Act No. 2003-775 of 21 August 2003 on pension reform, including Article 97, II;
The State Council (Social Section) heard,
Decrete:
Chapter II of Book I title V of the Social Security Code is amended to read:
1° In the title of this chapter, after the words: "liberal professions" are added the words: ", lawyers";
2° In the title of section II, after the words: "liberal professions", the words "and lawyers" are added;
3° In the last paragraph of section R. 152-1, the words: "to the organizations of the old-age insurance scheme for the liberal professions" are replaced by the words: "to the Caisse nationale d'assurance vieuxsse des professions and the Caisse nationale des barreaux français".
In chapter III of Book VII, title II, of the Social Security Code, sections 1 to 3 are as follows:
“Section 1
“Administrative and Financial Organization
"Subsection 1
“Administrative Organization
« Caisse nationale des barres français
"Art. R. 723-1. - The caisse established in Article L. 723-1 is a private establishment, with headquarters in Paris. It is administered by a board of directors, whose members are designated under the conditions set out in sections R. 723-3 to R. 723-6.
"Art. R. 723-2. - The General Assembly consists of:
« 1° Two delegates appointed by the Bar Association to the Council of State and the Court of Cassation;
« 2° One hundred and twenty-nine delegates elected by all lawyers registered in the table or admitted to the internship, affiliated to the caisse and being in good standing on December 31 of the previous year for payment of their contributions;
« 3° Fourteen delegates elected by beneficiaries of a pension or disability.
"Delegates are elected or designated for six years by secret ballot. Candidates who obtained the largest number of votes shall be declared elected. In the event of the death or resignation of an elected delegate, the elected delegate shall be replaced, without further elections, by the unelected candidate who obtained the largest number of votes.
"The statutes set out the modalities of the elections; They include, for lawyers registered in the table or admitted to the internship, the formation of groupings corresponding to one or more appeal courses and the number of delegates elected by each group.
"The delegates who, without a valid excuse, did not attend three successive sessions of the General Assembly shall be declared ex officio to the General Assembly.
"Art. R. 723-3. - The Board of Directors includes thirty-eight incumbent members and thirty-eight alternate members.
"For each group, members are designated as follows:
« 1° One of the lawyers at the State Council and the Court of Cassation;
« 2° Twelve among lawyers at the Paris Bar;
« 3° Twenty-one among the lawyers of the other bars;
« 4° Four of the beneficiaries of a retirement or disability pension.
"Art. R. 723-4. - The incumbent administrator and alternate administrator representing the lawyers to the Council of State and the Court of Cassation shall be designated for six years by the Board of Order.
"The incumbent administrators and alternate administrators representing the beneficiaries of a pension are elected by their delegates to the General Assembly for six years.
"The directors mentioned in this article are indefinitely renewable.
"Art. R. 723-5. - The other members of the board of directors are elected for six years and indefinitely renewable.
"They are elected by the delegates mentioned in article R. 723-2 gathered in a single college, by an absolute majority of the members present.
"If, after a first ballot, seats remain to be filled, a second round is taken; the election then takes place by the relative majority.
"The alternate members are elected under the same conditions.
"The other terms and conditions for the election of directors are set by the statutes.
"Art. R. 723-6. - Minutes of the election of members of the General Assembly and the election of directors shall be sent, within five days, to the Attorney General near the Court of Appeal in the jurisdiction of which is the seat of the caisse.
"In the ten days of the election, any elector may file a claim on the regularity of the election with the court of appeal of the seat of the credit union. Within ten days of receipt of the minutes, the Attorney General has the same right.
"Art. R. 723-7. - Administrator functions are free of charge; they are entitled, if any, to the reimbursement of travel expenses and to the payment of compensation under the conditions fixed by order of the Minister for Social Security.
"Art. R. 723-8. - The board of directors shall elect from among its members an office comprising a president, eight vice-presidents and a secretary. The Vice-Chairs may plead the Chair in the event of an impediment.
"The president is elected for two consecutive years. The Presidency alternates with a lawyer from the Council of State and the Court of Cassation or a lawyer from the Paris Bar on the one hand, to a lawyer belonging to a bar from the departments on the other.
"The other officers are elected for one year.
"Art. R. 723-9. - The Board of Directors meets at least once a quarter; It is also summoned whenever necessary by its President, either on the initiative of the President, or at the request of the Minister of Justice or the Minister for Social Security, or at the request of at least one quarter of the members of the Council.
"Art. R. 723-10. - The board of directors may only validly deliberate if at least one third of the members in exercise attend the session. Decisions shall be taken by a majority of the votes of the members present.
"In the event of a vote, the president's voice is preponderant.
"Art. R. 723-11. - Alternate directors may attend the board of directors. They may only participate in the vote when they are called to replace, under the conditions set by the statutes, the directors holding the same category.
"Art. R. 723-12. - Resigned ex officio by the Board of Directors, the incumbent or alternate directors who, without a valid excuse, did not attend three consecutive sessions of the Board of Directors.
"When a director ceases to exercise the professional activity he had during his election, the conditions under which he or she retains his or her mandate are determined by the Statutes of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français.
"A licensee that ceases to exercise its mandate before the expiry of the term is replaced by an alternate. The statutes of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français set out the conditions under which the alternate is designated.
"The alternate administrator called to replace a licensee shall perform the function only for the remainder of the term entrusted to his predecessor.
"Art. R. 723-13. - Subject to the provisions of Article L. 723-1, the statutes of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français are decided upon by the board of directors by the general assembly of the delegates.
"The order in the second paragraph of section L. 723-1 is taken by the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Budget and the Minister for Social Security.
"Art. R. 723-14. - A director is appointed by the board of directors and approved by the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Social Security.
"An accountant is appointed by the board of directors and approved by the Minister for Social Security.
" Neither the director nor the accounting officer can be selected from the board members.
"The withdrawal of the approval by one of the ministers concerned leads to the termination of their duties for these officers.
"The Director and Accountant may be revoked by the Board of Directors.
"Art. R. 723-15. - The Director shall, under the control of the Board of Directors, ensure the operation of the caisse. He attends, with an advisory voice, meetings of the council.
"The Director has sole authority over staff. It sets out the organization of work in the services and takes all individual or collective measures relating to the general conditions of employment of staff.
"With the limits set by the Board of Directors, it commits expenses, notes receivables and debts, issues orders of revenue and expenses.
"It may, with the prior agreement of the board of directors, require that it be passed in addition to the refusal of a visa or payment, possibly opposed by the accounting agent.
"Art. R. 723-16. - The accounting officer is placed under the administrative authority of the director. It is responsible, under its responsibility and under the control of the board of directors, under the conditions specified by the statutes, for all financial transactions of the caisse.
"Before entering office, the accounting officer shall be subject to a surety whose amount, as determined by the board of directors, shall not be less than the minimum of the surety to which the accounting officers of the social security funds are held. This bonding is made in cash or rents on the state. Deposits and consignations shall be deposited with the Fund under the conditions determined by the administrative consignations. However, it may be replaced, with the authorization of the board of directors, by the affiliation of the accounting officer to a mutual bonding association.
"The board of directors may not issue a quitus certificate to the accounting officer upon termination of office until after a complete audit of its management by a dependent official either of the Minister for Social Security or of the Minister for Budget. The certificate of quitus may only be issued upon the expiration of a period of three months from the date of termination of the duties.
"Art. R. 723-17. - The Board of Directors of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français sets the amount of cash that the accounting officer is authorized to retain.
"Subsection 2
“Resources
"Art. R. 723-18. - The contribution provided for in the first paragraph of Article L. 723-5 is payable by all lawyers affiliated to the Caisse nationale des barreaux français. Its amount shall be determined annually, on the proposal of the Board of Directors of the caisse, by the general meeting provided for in section R. 723-2, by a simple majority of the members present or represented. In the event that this majority is not met, the contribution is equal to that of the previous year.
"Art. R. 723-19. - For the calculation of the contribution under the second paragraph of section L. 723-5, non-employed lawyers are required to report annually, by 30 April, to the Caisse nationale des barreaux français, the net taxable occupational income they have made during the last calendar year. In the event of a non-report, the credit union itself determines the amount of income to be taken into account in calculating contributions, within the limits of the income limit provided for in the second paragraph of section L. 723-5. A regularization of the contribution may be made at the request of the lawyer, upon presentation of the relevant tax notice or any supporting evidence of such incomes issued or certified by the tax services.
"The contribution to which insured persons are in arrears at the beginning of the activity is based on a lump-sum income that cannot exceed, for the year or the portion of the year beginning of the fiscal year, a third of the ceiling provided for in section L. 241-3 and equal to half of the ceiling for the following year.
"Art. R. 723-20. - For non-employed lawyers, in the event of registration in the table or on the list of the internship in calendar year, contributions are calculated on a prorated basis of the number of days of the calendar year beginning on the first day of the calendar quarter following the date of registration.
"In the event of termination of registration in the table or on the list of the internship during the calendar year, contributions shall be calculated on a prorated basis of the number of days of the calendar year up to the last day of the calendar quarter in which the registration was terminated. If the contributions have been paid for the entire year, they are refunded by the Caisse nationale des barreaux français no later than the month following the request of the interested party.
"Art. R. 723-21. - Represents the annual contribution due in respect of their liberal exercise on the basis of the number of days corresponding to that fiscal year:
"-the employed lawyer pursuing his exercise in a liberal capacity;
" - the lawyer acting as an employee lawyer after exercising in a liberal capacity.
"Art. R. 723-22. - No contribution is payable by a lawyer exercising a liberal position and a beneficiary of the permanent disability pension under section R. 723-56.
"Art. R. 723-23. - A total or partial exemption of lump sum contributions for the benefit of lawyers exercising in a liberal capacity whose state of illness, duly recognized by an expert designated by the office, has been for a period of more than six months, as well as the exemption of the payment or the reduction of either of these contributions in the event of a justified lack of resources, or delay increases in the case of good faith duly proved, may be pronounced by a committee This commission is discretionary.
"Art. R. 723-24. - No contribution is payable for the periods in which the employee lawyer establishes his or her status as a beneficiary:
« 1° A replacement income paid under Article L. 351-2 of the Labour Code;
« 2° A cash benefit from health insurance, maternity insurance or disability insurance when it cannot claim the full maintenance of its salary under either legislative or regulatory provisions or treaty provisions.
"These periods are counted from date to date.
"Art. R. 723-25. - Contributions are portable.
"The contributions must be paid each year on the date fixed by the statutes. If the statutes are silent, they must be paid in full on or before April 30th. In the cases provided for in Article R. 723-20, they are due within one month of their notification.
"The statutes may provide for the payment of instalment contributions. They set the payment methods for contributions.
"The non-payment of contributions on the due date results in delay increases. The rate of these increases is set by the French National Bar Fund statutes, but it may not exceed the rate set out in R. 243-18.
"Art. R. 723-26. - The role of contributions is established by the Board of Directors of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français. It is transmitted to the first president and to the Attorney General of each court of appeal accompanied by requests for the purpose of issuing enforceable titles.
"Subsection 3
“Financial and Accounting Organization
"Art. R. 723-27. - The provisions of sections R. 623-2 to R. 623-10-4 relating to the financial organization of old-age insurance schemes for non-farm non-earmarked workers are applicable to the financial organization of the lawyers' plan.
"Art. R. 723-28. - It is open in the accounts of the Caisse National des Bars français four separate accounts for the first benefit of the basic plan, the second the benefits of the supplementary plan, the third the benefits of the disability-related plan, and the fourth the social equity fund.
"The first account shall, in addition to the entire product of the pleading rights, receive the amount of the personal contributions provided for in Article L. 723-5.
"The second account shall receive the contributions under section L. 723-15.
"The third account shall receive the contributions under section L. 723-6.
"The fourth account receives the revenues provided for in 1° and 2° of Article R. 723-57.
"The general costs for the operation of the four accounts are the subject of an advance made by the basic pension plan and then distributed among each account according to the terms set by the statutes.
"Art. R. 723-29. - The Caisse nationale des barreaux français constitutes four separate reserve funds, each with annual surpluses of the corresponding account.
"When the deficit of an account cannot be fully covered by its reserve fund, it may exceptionally be made a temporary withdrawal from the reserve fund of another account, within the limit of the tenth of its assets.
"The amount of this loan and interest at the legal rate must be refunded by a premium increase in the following year.
"The benefits are guaranteed only within the resources allocated to the account.
"Art. R. 723-30. - The financial accounts and annual balance sheet are submitted, within three months of the year's closing, to the Minister for Social Security.
"A copy is sent to the Budget Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Receiver General for Finance in Paris.
"Subsection 4
Miscellaneous provisions
"Art. R. 723-31. - Prior to 1 March of each year, each staff member shall address the list of lawyers and legal persons registered in the table or admitted to the training course to the Caisse nationale des barreaux français, as of 1 January of the same year, specifying their professional domicile and:
« 1° For lawyers, in addition to their date of birth, the date of registration to the table or admission to the internship, the method of exercise and, where applicable, the employer's contact information;
« 2° For legal persons, their names, their legal structure and the list of their associates.
"Any change occurring during the year must be reported without delay to the caisse by the sticker.
"Art. R. 723-32. - Membership in the Caisse nationale des barreaux français takes effect on the date on which the lawyer is registered in the table or internship. Radiation takes effect on the date on which it ceases to appear.
"Art. R. 723-33. - The lawyers referred to in section L. 723-1 are required to submit to the officers of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français, under the conditions set out in section L. 652-6, any documents requested by these officers for the exercise of control, including those involved in determining the social security contribution base and the amount of the social security premiums.
"If applicable, these officers must provide written comments made during the review to the contributor, who may respond within 15 days. Upon the expiry of this period, they shall transmit the minutes indicating the observations, accompanied, if any, by the response of the person concerned, to the body to which they report.
"The supervisory officers may also conduct any administrative audits or investigations concerning the award of benefits.
“Section 2
"Management Control
"Art. R. 723-34. - Government Commissioners, who represent the Minister for Social Security, the Minister for Budget and the Minister of Justice, attend the meetings of the Board of Directors of the Caisse National des Bars français and are heard whenever they so request.
"The Caisse nationale des barreaux français is also subject to audits of the general inspection of finances and the Receiver General for Finance in Paris.
"Art. R. 723-35. - The opposition provided for in section L. 723-8 shall be made within one month of the day of the communication of the deliberation of the General Assembly of the delegates of the Caisse National des Bars français to the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Budget and the Minister for Social Security.
“Section 3
“Prestations
"Subsection 1
“Basic Retirement Benefits
“Paragraph 1
"Assured pension
"Art. R. 723-36. - The right to a pension is vested in any lawyer who, at the time he ceases to work, has reached the age established under the first paragraph of Article L. 351-1. However, lawyers who justify having practised their profession for sixty years can benefit from retirement without having to resign.
"Art. R. 723-37. - Where, at the time of termination of business, the person concerned shall, in this plan and in one or more other basic old-age insurance plans, justify the period of insurance set out under the second paragraph of section L. 351-1, the amount of the pension shall be determined according to the number of quarters of insurance validated by the French National Bar Fund:
« 1° If this number is at least equal to one hundred and sixty, the amount of the pension is the amount determined under section R. 723-43;
« 2° If this number is less than one hundred and sixty and at least equal to sixty, the amount of the pension is that fixed under section R. 723-43 calculated proportionally to the number of quarters validated;
« 3° If this number is less than sixty, the provisions of Article L. 723-11 shall be applied. The fraction of the allowance to old employed workers is calculated in proportion to the number of quarters validated by the French National Bar Fund.
"Art. R. 723-38. - The reduction in the third paragraph of Article L. 723-10-1 is based on either the number of quarters corresponding to the period between the age at which the retirement pension takes effect from the sixty-fifth anniversary, or the number of additional quarters that would be necessary, on the date of effect of the retirement pension, to the second paragraph of Article L. 723-10-1. The smallest of these numbers is considered.
"The lowering factor is 1.25 per quarter missing within 20 quarters.
"Art. R. 723-39. - The increase provided for in the last paragraph of Article L. 723-10-1 is applicable in respect of the periods of activity that have resulted in contributions to the expense of the insured person as of 1 January 2004 after the age specified in the first paragraph of Article L. 351-1 and beyond the limit referred to in the second paragraph of the same Article.
"This increase is 0.75% per quarter.
"Art. R. 723-40. - For lawyers exercising in a liberal capacity, are counted as insurance periods in this plan:
« 1° Periods resulting in actual payment of contributions. The contributions to the French National Bar Fund shall be decided on the last day of the calendar quarter before the date for the commencement of the basic pension, without prejudice to the provisions of Article L. 723-10;
« 2° The periods resulting in exemptions from contributions made under articles L. 723-5-l and R. 723-23;
« 3° Periods of collection of the temporary disability allowance under section R. 723-54 and the permanent disability pension under section R. 723-56;
« 4° The periods referred to in Article L. 161-19 and the periods as defined by the regulatory measures for the application of this section.
"The periods referred to in 3° and 4° of this article are counted from date to date for the calendar year and are entitled to the validation of a quarter of insurance per ninety-day period, with the balance counted for a quarter if it is equal to or greater than sixty days.
"Art. R. 723-41. - For employed lawyers, are counted as insurance periods in this plan:
« 1° Periods resulting in actual payment of contributions. These periods are counted from date to date for the calendar year and are entitled to the validation of an insurance quarter per 90-day period, with the balance counted for one quarter if it is greater than or equal to sixty days;
« 2° The periods defined in Article L. 351-3 of the Social Security Code.
"Art. R. 723-42. - The application of the provisions of 2°, 3° and 4° of Article R. 723-40 and 2° of Article R. 723-41 may not have the effect of bringing to a number greater than four the number of quarters of insurance valid for the same calendar year of affiliation.
"Art. R. 723-43. - The amount of the pension is fixed by the general assembly on the proposal of the board of directors.
"The retirement pension provided to the beneficiaries of the permanent disability pension under section R. 723-56 shall not be less than half the amount determined by the General Assembly in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph.
"Art. R. 723-44. - The first day of the calendar quarter that follows the application of the person concerned shall be the first day of the pension, provided that the terms of attribution are met.
"The pension is payable in the fallen quarter.
"Art. R. 723-45. - When a pension has been liquidated for the benefit of a lawyer who resumes the exercise of his profession, the service of that pension is suspended from the day of re-registration to the day on which he ceases to appear.
“Paragraph 2
“Reversion pension
"Art. R. 723-46. - Upon the death of a lawyer who has a pension or who has the conditions to benefit from it, the surviving spouse is entitled to a reversion pension equal to half that enjoyed by his or her spouse or to which he or she could have claimed.
"This pension is acquired only if the marriage has been contracted for at least five years before the date of the lawyer's death. However, this term is not required when a child at least comes from marriage.
"The divorced unremarried spouse is assimilated to a surviving spouse for the purposes of the two preceding paragraphs.
"The pension to which is likely to open the death of a divorced and remarried lawyer is shared between his surviving spouse and the divorced spouse(s) not remarried on the prorated basis of the respective duration of each marriage. This sharing is effected upon the liquidation of the rights to the first of them, upon request.
"On the death of one of the beneficiaries, his share will increase the other's share or, if applicable, others, from the first day of the month following the death.
"The silence held for more than four months on the request for the liquidation or revision of a reversion pension and its accessories under this section is a decision to reject.
"Art. R. 723-47. - Reversion pension service ceases in case of marriage, but benefits children up to twenty-one years.
"In the absence of a surviving spouse or former spouse who is a beneficiary of a reversion pension, the child or children of a lawyer who has just died are entitled, up to the age of twenty-one years, to the reversion pension under the conditions prescribed for the surviving spouse or former spouse.
"Subsection 2
« Capital Death
"Art. R. 723-48. - The General Assembly, on the proposal of the Board of Directors, sets out the amount of the capital allocated in the event of death of a lawyer or an intern lawyer listed on the table or on the internship list for the three months preceding the death.
“The provisions of articles L. 723-8 and R. 723-35 apply to this deliberation.
"Art. R. 723-49. - The death of retired lawyers does not open up the allocation of a capital.
"Art. R. 723-50. - Death capital is paid to the surviving spouse. In the absence of a surviving spouse, it is distributed among the children of the deceased:
" - aged under twenty-one years;
"-aged twenty-one to twenty-five years and continuing studies;
" - regardless of age, physically or mentally disabled.
"In the absence of a surviving spouse and children, the death capital is paid to the father, mother, brother or sister who were in full and effective charge of the deceased.
"Art. R. 723-51. - Where, at the death of a lawyer, there are no persons referred to in section R. 723-50, the Caisse nationale des barreaux français may reimburse any person who has assumed the charge, within one-quarter of the capital provided for in section R. 723-48, for the costs of obseques and last illness on the presentation of the evidence of actual costs incurred.
"Subsection 3
"Orphan allowance
"Art. R. 723-52. - Every mother and father orphan and every father orphan of a father or mother who actually practised the profession of a lawyer on the date of death is entitled, up to the age of twenty-one years, to an annual allowance equal to the quarter of the pension referred to in R. 723-43.
"When the orphan continues his education and even if he is married, the allowance service may be extended to the age of twenty-five years by decision of the board of directors.
"Art. R. 723-53. - The allocation service may be extended by decision of the board of directors when the orphan is incapacitated medically recognized at least 50%:
« 1° Up to the age of twenty-five years without a condition of resources;
« 2° Beyond the age of twenty-five years after a review of the situation of the person concerned, his resources and in particular the benefits to which he may claim under another social protection regime.
"The Caisse nationale des barreaux français may, at any time, conduct a medical examination to control the disability rate of the individual. The allocation service referred to in this section shall be deleted if, following the examination prescribed by the credit union, it is found that the incapacity rate has become less than 50%.
"Subsection 4
"Disability allowances
“Paragraph 1
“Temporary invalidity
"Art. R. 723-54. - A lawyer or an intern lawyer shall receive an allowance if he or she is unable to practise his or her profession from the ninety-first day after the termination of any activity provided that he or she was enrolled in a bar at the time of his or her termination and that he or she has practised the profession for at least 12 months.
"This allowance is, however, acquired to the interested party only if the termination of the activity is due to a contracted illness or an accident that occurred after the registration of the interested person in the table or on the internship list.
"The termination of the activity is found in the conditions established by the caisse's statutes. It must be total, which excludes all postulation, plaidoiry, customer reception and consultation.
"The benefit service ceases when the employee has returned to work or has received the allowance for three years.
"However, in the case of interruption followed by a resumption of work, a new three-year period is opened, as soon as the said recovery has been at least one year. When the resumption of work lasts less than one year, the total of the successive periods during which the allowance is served, counted from date to date, cannot exceed three years.
"Art. R. 723-55. - The amount of the temporary allowance shall be determined by the General Assembly on the proposal of the Board of Directors of the caisse.
“The provisions of articles L. 723-8 and R. 723-35 apply to this deliberation.
"The allowance is calculated per day of disability.
"The payment methods, including periodicity, are established by the statutes.
“Paragraph 2
“Permanent invalidity
"Art. R. 723-56. - Lawyers in a state of permanent incapacity to practise their profession and who cannot claim a pension benefit shall, at the expiry of the three-year period during which they have received the temporary allowance and up to the age of sixty, receive a disability pension equal to half of the entire pension as determined by the annual general assembly.
"However, the amount of the disability pension cannot be less than that of the proportional pension that would have been allocated to the persons concerned if they had reached the age of sixty at the effective date of their disability pension.
"The permanent disability time is taken into account in the quarters validated for the basic pension.
"The disability pension service is terminated or suspended in the event of resumption of a work activity.
"The permanent disability pension is also granted, on the basis of their fifty-fifth anniversary, to lawyers, former deportees or internees, holders of the deported or interned card of the Resistance or the deported or political interned card, whose military disability pension was granted for a total disability rate of at least 60%, provided that they cease all professional activity. The disability pension under this paragraph may be accumulated without limitation of the amount with the military disability pension.
"The silence held for more than four months on the application for the liquidation of a disability pension is a decision to reject.
"Subsection 5
“Social action
"Art. R. 723-57. - A social action fund is established with the following revenues:
« 1° A levy on the revenues of the basic regime and the supplementary regime whose maximum rate is fixed by interdepartmental decree;
« 2° Any donations, bequests and grants awarded to the caisse.
"The purpose of this fund is, within the limits of the resources allocated to it, to implement a social action intended for the affiliates or allocataries of the caisse and their surviving spouses, their orphans, and taking the form of either individual aids or collective actions.
"The individual aids are granted, when the material situation of the recipient justifies it, within one year. In the event of a request for renewal of such assistance, a further review of the status of the recipient is undertaken.
"The collective actions tend to establish services that correspond to the purpose of the caisse.
"The statutes of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français specify the various categories of individual aids and collective shares mentioned above.
"Social action decisions are taken by the board of directors on the proposal of a social action committee designated by him within him.
"The financial transactions of the social action fund are monitored in a particular account and are subject to a specific budget.
"Subsection 6
“Common provisions
"Art. R. 723-58. - The provisions of sub-sections 2, 3 and 4 of this section do not apply if death or disability originate in war events.
"Art. R. 723-59. - Claims relating to benefits under this section are obligatoryly submitted to an amicable appeal board composed of four directors holding the board of directors of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français.
"The members of this commission are appointed at the beginning of each year by the board of directors.
"The friendly appeal board may validly decide whether at least two of its members are present.
"The Amicable Appeals Board must be seized within two months of notification of the decision against which the parties intend to file a claim. Forclusion may only be validly opposed to persons concerned if such notification refers to this period.
"The Amicable Appeals Board shall notify the parties of its decision. This decision must be motivated.
"The silence held for more than four months from the date of the claim is a decision to reject. »
At 2° of R. 723-67, the words: "R. 723-16-1" are replaced by the words: "R. 723-19".
I. - Subject to the II and III of this Article, the provisions of Article 2 of this Decree relating to the basic pension paid by the Caisse nationale des barreaux français come into force on 1 January 2004.
II. - The determination of the rate of delay increases by the statutes of the Caisse nationale des barreaux français, as provided for in article R. 723-26 of the Social Security Code as it results from article 2 of this decree, takes effect on 1 January 2005. For the fiscal year 2004, delay increases are those provided for in the third paragraph of section R. 723-16-1 and the last paragraph of section R. 723-18 of the Social Security Code in force as at 31 December 2003.
III. - The winding-up of the pension for lawyers who, as at 31 December 2003, justify at least one hundred and sixty-nine quarters of insurance in the legal system and who continue the exercise of the legal profession after 31 December 2003, will be carried out in accordance with the terms in force prior to the coming into force of this decree if these terms are more favourable than those provided for in Article R. 723-39 of the Social Security Code,
The Minister of Solidarity, Health and the Family, the Guard of Seals, Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry are responsible, each with respect to him, for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, December 23, 2004.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
By the Prime Minister:
The Minister of Solidarity,
health and family,
Philippe Douste-Blazy
The Seal Guard, Minister of Justice,
Dominica Perben
Minister of Economy,
finance and industry,
Hervé Gaymard
