The association Juristes pour le Respect du Droit International (JURDI), represented by the firm Ancile Avocats, has summoned BNP Paribas before the Paris Judicial Court for failure to comply with its legal obligations under its duty of vigilance.
The increasing number of serious violations of international humanitarian, criminal and human rights law (war crimes and crimes against humanity) committed by the Israeli army in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip, and the total impunity granted to facto to the perpetrators of these international crimes by Israeli justice, compels a reaction.
Aware of the need not to remain passive and helpless in the face of support from the French State and companies, JURDI decided to act, and, in particular, to sue BNP Paribas for failure to fulfill its duty of vigilance.
Under the 2017 Duty of Vigilance Law, BNP Paribas is required to publish an annual vigilance plan that must identify risks and prevent serious violations of human rights, among other things, resulting from its activities. This plan must then be effectively implemented.
However, far from respecting these obligations, BNP Paribas, in its 2024 vigilance plan, did not deign to mention the very existence of its activities in support of the State of Israel or of companies arming the State of Israel.
Indeed, the guarantee provided by BNP Paribas for the successful completion of an $8 billion bond subscription for the benefit of the Israeli government is not included. Nor is its support for ELBIT SYSTEMS, the main arms supplier to the State of Israel.
To avoid being complicit in the crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories, BNP Paribas must first become aware of, and publicize, its risky activities.
In December 2024, the JURDI association, represented by the Ancile Avocats firm, formally demanded that BNP Paribas modify its vigilance plan. In March 2025, the latter refused.
Faced with the categorical refusal of any awareness, the JURDI association is forced to take legal action in France so that, finally, BNP Paribas' willful blindness to the disastrous impacts of its activities on the Palestinian civilian population will cease.
According to Ghislain Poissonnier, vice-president of JURDI: «BNP Paribas must update its vigilance plan to comply with the French law on the duty of vigilance by integrating into its plan the risks of serious human rights violations linked to its activities in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the preventive measures taken to mitigate them. These activities are indeed likely to lead to human rights violations against the Palestinian population, whether in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, or East Jerusalem. The International Court of Justice, in its decision of July 19, 2024, confirmed the illegality of the Israeli presence in the occupied Palestinian territory and the repeated violations of international law, particularly human rights law, by Israel, imposing a legal obligation not to provide aid or assistance to the maintenance of the status quo.».
For Matilda Ferey and Joseph Breham, of the law firm Ancile Avocats: «"The international crimes committed by the State of Israel are obviously intolerable. Equally intolerable is the illegal and organized opacity surrounding the support provided by BNP Paribas to the perpetrators of these international crimes.".
Founded in 2024, JURDI brings together lawyers committed to the effective implementation of international law in response to violations committed in Israel and Palestine. The association intends to pursue its actions before all competent jurisdictions.
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