French Employment law - Professional Journalists with More Than 15 Years of Service: The Arbitration Commission, Solely Competent to Award dismissal indemnity in Cases of Judicial Termination of Contract (cass. Soc. , May 6th, 2026, 25-12.049)

In a ruling published in the Bulletin of May 6th, 2026 (25-12.049), the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) affirmed, for the first time to our knowledge, that the Arbitration Commission for Journalists alone has the competence and authority to rule on the awarding and amount of severance pay to professional journalists with more than fifteen years of service, regardless of the reason for termination, including when such compensation is due following a court-ordered termination of the employment contract.

This decision is significant for all journalists with more than 15 years of service, as it confirms the exclusive competence of the Arbitration Commission for Journalists regarding the awarding of severance pay.

 IV-Analysis.

It should first be noted that the Advocate General had recommended rejecting the argument, and the Court of Cassation followed his position.

This judgment of May 6, 2026, confirms, on the one hand, that judicial termination must be analyzed as a breach of the employment contract initiated by the employer.

The Court of Cassation clarified in this judgment that the arbitration board has sole jurisdiction to rule on the awarding and amount of severance pay when the journalist in question has more than 15 years of service, including when this compensation is due following the pronouncement of the judicial termination of the employment contract.

The fact that the termination is considered to be initiated by the employer thus makes the arbitration board competent—which enjoys a monopoly on the awarding of severance pay and on determining its amount.

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https://www.village-justice.com/articles/resiliation-judiciaire-contrat-travail-journaliste-senior-commission-arbitrale,57472.html

Sources :

• Cour de cassation, civile, Chambre sociale, 6 mai 2026, 25-12.049, Publié au bulletin
• Cour d’appel de Paris, 17 octobre 2024, RG n° 23/15815 ;
• Avis de l’avocat général ;
• Article L7112-3 du Code du travail ;
• Article L7112-4 du Code du travail ;
• Journalistes : la commission arbitrale fixe l’indemnité de licenciement nonobstant la décision prud’homale.
• Droit des journalistes : quelle prescription de l’indemnité de licenciement devant la Commission arbitrale.

Frédéric CHHUM avocat et ancien membre du conseil de l’ordre des avocats de Paris (mandat 2019-2021)

CHHUM AVOCATS (Paris, Nantes, Lille)

e-mail: chhum@chhum-avocats.com

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