 Poster: A snowHead
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A significant battle has been fought and won through the French Courts which could make it easier for British Instructors to work in France. ( Written Court Confirmation - 11 March 2008) ...
The judgement, delivered by the Court in Bonneville on 31st August 2006, puts an end to the long-running quarrel between British ski instructors and their French counterparts working for l’Ecole de Ski Francais (ESF).
The case was brought against Simon Butler, a British Ski Instructor working in France for 25 years under the name of Simon Butler Skiing. Mr Butler and other ski instructors were summoned to appear before the Court in Bonneville on 15th June 2006. He faced the possibility of a year’s imprisonment, a 15000 euros fine and a permanent ban from skiing with clients in France.
Mr Butler was represented by two French avocats - Lauren Pascal (Chambery Bar) and Paul Salvisberg (Albertville Bar).
In an unprecedented decision, the French Court held that British Ski Instructors teaching in France with British qualifications should not, in future, be made the subject of criminal proceedings.
Mr Butler and his team of British instructors work with British guests on the slopes of Megeve. In Mr Butler's opinion this has always annoyed the ESF instructors who feel that they are stealing their livelihoods by giving lessons outside the bounds of ESF.
In January 2006, the Director of ESF Megeve once again went to the local police station to press charges. This was the fifth time Mr Butler had appeared in French Courts regarding this matter. The police subsequently carried out checks and found that the British instructors were giving lessons to their guests and, in their opinion, they were doing this without the qualifications and certificates required to work as a ski instructor in France. Mr Butler had also taken this case to the European Parliament in 2003 where delegates found in his favour.
The British instructors were all able to show appropriate BASI (British Association of Snowsport Instructors) ski teaching certificates in their defence. Specifically, Simon Butler holds a BASI 1 certificate, the highest grade awarded by the British Association.
The French legal authorities had always refused to recognise these qualifications and insisted that British instructors should take their standard tests, including the Speedtest, a time trial which demands the instructor to ski a full GS course within a percentage of times set by professional racers. BASI has incorporated this speed test (wrongly in the opinion of Mr Butler) into their ISTD qualification (International Ski Teacher Diploma).
According to French and EC legislation, the British instructors could only be obliged to take the French tests in two circumstances:
Where the teaching they had previously received covered subjects which differed substantially from the French training and:
Where the qualification held by a non-French national does not cover all the activities which the National Qualification does.
The French authorities and the Prosecution tried to rely on these two conditions to compel the British instructors to take their speed test, renowned for being extremely difficult.
The ESF chose not to appeal against the judgement, and as a result, a precedent has now been created upon which all non-French instructors will be able to rely.
The decision is seen as a victory for all British instructors, not least Simon Butler who, from the outset of his career in France, has been subject regular scrutiny from the police and has received threats on an annual basis that the authorities would force him to cease his business activities in France
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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tinky, welcome to snowHeads. Good news for Simon at last, and other British instructors. Wonder if we will see some new rules from the French...?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I believe that there was another case going through the courts (brought by some non-ESF French Instructors?) regarding the ESF's use of their appelation. The case being that calling themselves "Francais" implies some sort of national authority whereas in reality they are simply a private company and hence have no right to claim such "established" status. Do you know anything about that one tinky?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Why do they place such weight on a speed test which has very little to do with how successful you would be at teaching the average schmo?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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plectrum, it is one test of how good a skier you are. I think to be a good teacher you need to ski at a high level yourself and have great teaching skills. Both are important, and BASI (and presumably other national systems?) assess both aspects.
I'm not quite sure what the implications of this legal judgement are for non-French instructors. Am I right to assume that it means anyone qualified to ISTD level (including a Eurotest pass) will no longer be able to be sued by the French authorities for teaching without the appropriate qualifications? Or does it mean that the qualification required to teach legally in France does not need to be ISTD standard any more?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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plectrum, .... even General De Gaulle once asked how he could govern a country that made 573 types of cheese ....
.... the 'Speed Test' is just but a jolly jape from our French cousins ..... 
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Yoda, AFAIK the case brought by the ESI/SIMS against the ESF was not succesful (racking brain to think when I heard this). Interesting though, given that a precedent appeared to have been set when a similar case was brought by independent sailing (?) schools against the Ecole francais de voile (or similar)...
plectrum, The point is that holding the top european (French/British/Austrian etc etc) award qualifies you to teach skiers of way higher ability than your 'average schmo'...which does require some degree of ski ability from the instructor/coach...
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