The newly elected president of France could scrap VAT on legal fees for certain consumers and abolish a ‘nepotistic’ decree passed by the previous administration, the president of the Paris bar has told the Gazette.

Christiane Feral-Schuhl, in London to visit the Law Society, also told the Gazette that she plans using her two-year term of office to foster closer engagement between the French and British legal professions through a programme of seminars and ‘at least 100’ work placements.

She said that President Francois Hollande, who has pledged to make justice, education and security his administration’s priorities, is to ‘explore the possibility’ of scrapping VAT on legal fees paid by individuals in dispute with a company. She said: ‘A company can reclaim the VAT, but an individual cannot, which is unfair. Also, you don’t pay tax when you go to see the doctor, so why when you see a lawyer?’

However in the run-up to the election, Hollande told the Paris bar that the state of public finances would prevent immediate VAT reform.

Hollande is also under pressure to rescind his predecessor’s controversial ‘decree passerelle’, adopted in April 2012, which provides a fast-track for individuals to become lawyers without taking a law degree. They can qualify instead by having exercised public responsibilities that include drafting laws for eight years. Feral-Schuhl said: ‘The decree has been universally criticised by the profession and its regulators. It is simply a nepotistic way to find jobs for people who lose their seats in parliament.’

She said that the Paris bar, along with the Franco-British Commission, which works to increase cooperation between the two jurisdictions, is to develop an exchange programme of seminars and at least 100 work placements. The chambers of commerce of both countries, as well the British and Paris bar, the Law Society and international law firms are all expected to participate.

‘The idea is not for either country to impose its own rules, but to better understand the other’s legal system and to promote a closer engagement between firms,’ Feral-Schuhl said.