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 The latest abrupt twist in one of the most high-profile corporate
cases of recent years came after defense teams urged the French
court system to take note of a recent European judgment upholding
the right not to be tried twice.
Seven current or former managers and two former industrial
shareholders are accused of illegally selling shares in what was
then known as EADS, in March 2006, in the knowledge that things were
about to go wrong at Europe's largest aerospace firm.
All deny the charges and argue the trial is unwarranted because they
were cleared by the French stock market regulator AMF in 2009,
breaching the 'double jeopardy' rule upheld in March by the European
Court of Human Rights.
"When you have been found innocent once and then you have to go
through the whole thing again, this is complete torture," Olivier
Gutkes, a lawyer for former EADS co-chief executive Noel Forgeard,
told Reuters.
Forgeard, 67, is one of four former executives charged with abusing
privileged knowledge that deliveries of the world's largest
jetliner, the A380, would be delayed and that costs of that plane as
well as the newer A350 were rocketing higher.
Current managers facing similar charges include John Leahy, the
sales chief of planemaking unit Airbus who was not in court; Alain
Flourens, who heads the A380 program; and Andreas Sperl, former
Airbus finance director and now head of a freighter unit.
Also on trial are two former industrial shareholders, French media
group Lagardere and German car firm Daimler, which reduced their
stakes in April 2006.
The charges carry the risk of substantial fines and up to two years
in jail, though prison sentences are rare.
On June 13, 2006, the announcement of new delays on the A380 and a
staggered profit warning wiped 26 percent from the EADS stock price,
erasing 5.5 billion euros of market value.
The revelations triggered a crisis in industrial relations between
France and Germany, where the largest Airbus factories are based,
and a rapid swirl of management changes.
They also led to a lawsuit from a single investor hit by the share
slide, which mushroomed into an eight-year investigation culminating
in the trial scheduled to last for three weeks.
"We want financial damages," his lawyer Frederik Kanoy said.
CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATE
Since that debacle, EADS has reshaped itself by reducing the role of
the French and German governments and is enjoying record demand for
its jetliners under a new name, Airbus Group.
Its chief executive, Tom Enders, wrote to staff on Friday saying he
was confident the charges would be "fully dismissed".
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But the prospect of fresh disclosures about the inner workings of
once of Europe's most strategic companies had also turned it into
one of the most anticipated trials for some time.
Instead, the aerospace bosses sat silently throughout a day of
courtroom drama as some of the country's most renowned lawyers
pressed a panel of judges to seek a ruling on the principle of
double trials, which could take several months.
Their decision to accept the request was a surprise, coming a week
after the same presiding judge handed out stiff penalties in a case
involving the shares of aluminum firm Pechiney.
There were angry courtroom scenes when prosecutors suggested
defendants were playing for time by focusing on procedure.
"I am not afraid to be judged on the merits of the case; I am
innocent," Forgeard told Reuters afterwards.
Technically, the trial could keep going by hearing evidence on the
insider trading allegations without attempting a verdict.
But lawyers said this was unlikely while the deeper constitutional
issue was being settled, first by the Appeal Court then the
nine-member Constitutional Council.
At issue is whether a definitive decision by a financial regulator
with the power to impose severe penalties, like the AMF, is
equivalent to a court decision when deciding whether someone can be
put on trial again for the same set of facts.
The outcome could have wider implications for a tug of war between
other regulators and the courts over who should have the last say on
financial crimes, as well as influencing the sensitive balance
between national and European justice.
The hearing will resume on Tuesday when a formal decision is
expected on whether to halt the trial for several months.
(Editing by Geert De Clercq and Elaine Hardcastle)
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