24 mai 1872
Dans ses attributions contentieuses, le Conseil d’État rend des décisions, des ordonnances (actes juridictionnels rendus par un magistrat statuant seul, soit sur des affaires ne présentant aucune difficulté, soit dans le cadre d'une procédure accélérée dite « de référé ») et des avis (sur des questions d’ordre juridique soulevées par un litige porté devant une juridiction).
Chacune des sous-sections est un organe d’instruction et, en vertu du décret de 1980, un organe de jugement. Pour faciliter l’instruction des affaires, les sous-sections ont leurs spécialités. Leurs attributions sont définies par le président de la section du Contentieux. Les affaires peuvent être jugées, selon leur importance, par quatre niveaux différents de formation de jugement : la sous-section jugeant seule, les sous-sections réunies, la section du Contentieux et l’assemblée du Contentieux. L’organisation du Conseil d’État statuant au contentieux découle des dispositions du décret n° 63-766 du 30 juillet 1963. Son organisation et son fonctionnement sont encadrés par le livre premier des parties législative et réglementaire du code de justice administrative. Deux changements d’appellation majeurs ont eu lieu en 2009 et en 2016. Le décret n° 2009-14 du 7 janvier 2009 a substitué la dénomination « rapporteur public » à celle de « commissaire du gouvernement » et, en application de l’article 62 de la loi n° 2016-483 du 20 avril 2016, l’appellation « chambre » a remplacé celle de « sous-section ».
Liste des présidents de la section du Contentieux :
1872-1873 : BARROT, Odilon ;
1874-1879 : CAMUS DU MARTROY, Emmanuel ;
1879-1885 : LAFERRIÈRE, Édouard ;
1886-1903 : BERGER, Abel ;
1904-1907 : CHANTE-GRELLET, Albert ;
1908-1912 : MARGUERIE, René ;
1913-1917 : MAYNIEL, Émile Henri ;
1918-1932 : ROMIEU, Jean ;
1933-1937 : PICHAT, Georges ;
1937-1938 : PORCHÉ, Alfred ;
1938-1941 : CORNEILLE, Louis-François ;
1942-1952 : ROUCHON-MAZERAT, Edmond ;
1952-1961 : BOUFFANDEAU, Tony ;
1961-1966 : DEVÉMY, Marcel ;
1967-1976 : ODENT, Raymond ;
1977-1985 : HEUMANN, Claude ;
1985-1986 : LAURENT, Pierre ;
1986-1995 : COMBARNOUS, Michel ;
1995-1998 : GENTOT, Michel ;
1998-2004 : LABETOULLE, Daniel ;
2004-2006 : GENEVOIS, Bruno ;
2006-2018 : STIRN, Bernard ;
depuis 2018 : COMBREXELLE, Jean-Denis.
Le Conseil d'État possède une formation contentieuse depuis ses origines. Au fil des ans, sa structure, sa composition et son fonctionnement ont été modifiés : instruction par les sections administratives jusqu'en 1806, institution de la publicité des audiences et exercice d'un ministère publique dès 1831, création d'une « assemblée du Conseil d’État délibérant au contentieux » en 1852.
La IIIe République donne au Conseil d’État, réorganisé par la loi du 24 mai 1872, une structure qui doit durer au fil du temps. La loi du 24 mai maintient les deux formations de jugement qui existaient sous le Second Empire : la section du Contentieux, chargée de l’instruction des requêtes et du jugement de celles qui ont été présentées sans avocat, et l’assemblée publique du Conseil d’État statuant au contentieux, qui examine toutes les affaires présentées par ministère d’avocat ou renvoyées par la section. Elle consacre le principe de « justice déléguée » rendue au nom du peuple français qui, après une brève existence de 1849 à 1852, n’a pas été maintenue sous le Second Empire.
Dès la fin du XIXe siècle, l’activité de la section du Contentieux connait un accroissement considérable. Pour y faire face, des évolutions structurelles sont apportées à la formation contentieuse. La loi du 26 octobre 1888 crée une section temporaire du Contentieux, juge des recours en matière d’élections et de contributions directes ou taxes assimilées. Seules les affaires de la section du Contentieux doivent ainsi être présentées devant l’assemblée publique du Conseil d’État statuant au contentieux. La loi de finances du 13 avril 1900 et la loi du 17 juillet suivant créent deux sous-sections au sein de chacune des sections, chiffre amené à trois par la loi de finances du 8 avril 1910 qui pérennise la section temporaire sous le nom de section spéciale du Contentieux. Par la loi du 1er mars 1923, la section du Contentieux est divisée en deux sous-sections chargées de juger les affaires instruites et rapportées par quatre comités d’instruction (répartis par deux dans chaque sous-section). Un décret du 22 avril 1930 divise la section spéciale en six sous-sections. Elle est finalement supprimée par le décret du 5 mai 1934 portant réorganisation du Conseil d’État. La section du Contentieux est divisée en huit sous-sections (décret du 12 juillet 1934), chargées d’instruire et de rapporter les affaires et, pour les quatre dernières sous-sections, de juger les affaires de pensions, d’emplois réservés, de cartes du combattant, d’élections, de contributions directes et de taxes assimilées. Les autres affaires sont soumises au jugement de deux sous-sections réunies, sauf renvoi à la section ou à l’assemblée qui prend le nom d’assemblée plénière du Conseil d’État statuant au contentieux.
Durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le Conseil d’État maintient son activité juridictionnelle dans une formation restreinte. Le Comité national français, puis le Comité français de la Libération nationale se dotent d’une instance de même nature. Une ordonnance du 13 mars 1942 crée ainsi un comité du Contentieux placé auprès du Commissariat national à la Justice du Comité national français, chargé de procéder à l’instruction des recours et statuant dans les formes et selon les règles du Conseil d’État. Une ordonnance du 17 septembre 1943 institue par la suite un comité temporaire du Contentieux, créé à Alger par le Comité français de la Libération nationale, reprenant les attributions du comité du Contentieux. Après la Libération, le comité temporaire du Contentieux est supprimé (ordonnance du 8 septembre 1944). Les recours pendants sont transférés au Conseil d’État.
La seconde moitié du XXe siècle est celle de la création d’un véritable ordre de juridiction et de l’extension des compétences contentieuses du Conseil d’État. Le décret du 30 septembre 1953 en est le point de départ, avec la création des tribunaux administratifs qui, succédant aux conseils de préfecture, deviennent juges de droit commun des affaires de première instance. Même si le Conseil d’État conserve une compétence de premier et de dernier ressort sur les affaires les plus importantes, il devient juge d’appel. Par la suite, la loi n° 87-1127 du 31 décembre 1987 étend la juridiction en créant des cours administratives d’appel, « compétentes pour statuer sur les appels formés contre les jugements des tribunaux administratifs, à l’exception de ceux portant sur les recours en appréciation de légalité, sur les litiges relatifs aux élections municipales et cantonales et sur les recours pour excès de pouvoir formés contre les actes réglementaires » (article premier). La loi de 1987 consolide le contrôle de cassation exercé, au contentieux, par le Conseil d’État. Les arrêts des cours administratives d’appel peuvent en effet dès lors être déférés à la haute juridiction par voie du recours en cassation (article 10). La loi de 1987 accroit également les compétences de la haute juridiction en créant les avis contentieux. Durant cette même période, le nombre de sous-sections varie en fonction de l’évolution de la conjoncture contentieuse : porté à neuf par le décret du 12 décembre 1950, il culmine à onze en vertu de la loi du 4 août 1956. Ramené à neuf par le décret de 1963, il fut élevé à dix par le décret du 10 janvier 1980.
Plus récemment, la section du Contentieux a été dotée de compétences nouvelles. La loi n° 2000-597 du 30 juin 2000 a investi le président de la section du Contentieux et les conseillers d’État désignés à cet effet des pouvoirs de juges des référés. Le décret n° 2003-543 du 24 juin 2003 a rendu le Conseil d’État compétent pour juger des pourvois contre les jugements rendus, dans certaines matières, par les tribunaux administratifs statuant en premier et dernier ressort. Enfin, en vertu de la loi organique n° 2009-1523 du 10 décembre 2009 relative à l’application de l’article 61-1 de la Constitution, le Conseil d’État assure depuis le 1er mars 2010 le contrôle de la recevabilité des questions prioritaires de constitutionnalité soulevées devant une juridiction administrative et se prononce sur leur renvoi au Conseil constitutionnel.
Aujourd’hui, le Conseil d'État a ainsi une triple compétence de juge de cassation pour juger des pourvois formés contre les arrêts rendus par les cours administratives d'appel, contre les décisions juridictionnelles des juridictions administratives spécialisées et contre les jugements rendus dans certaines matières par les tribunaux administratifs statuant en premier et dernier ressort, de juge d'appel pour connaître des appels formés contre les jugements des tribunaux administratifs rendus en matière d'élections municipales et cantonales, et de juge de premier et dernier ressort pour juger les requêtes formées notamment contre les décrets, les actes réglementaires des ministres, le contentieux des élections régionales ou européennes. La majeure partie des décisions du Conseil d'État relèvent de sa compétence de cassation.
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