Being awarded membership in an honorific order means accepting its fundamental values, first and foremost honor. Awardees are morally committed to doing no harm to others or to the smooth running of society.
Under the Code governing the National Orders and the Military Medal, any criminal conviction or dishonorable act committed by an honoree may justify disciplinary proceedings.
Disciplinary sanctions
Pour les étrangers, la seule peine prévue est le retrait définitif de la décoration. The Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit have three levels of sanction:
- Reprimand
- Suspension, the duration of which varies according to the seriousness of the misconduct
- Permanent expulsion, automatic in the event of conviction for a felony or a court sentence greater than one year's unsuspended imprisonment.
For foreign recipients, there is only one sanction: permanent withdrawal of the decoration.
Disciplinary proceedings
The Grand Chancery investigates disciplinary cases. Proceedings are initiated by the Grand Chancellor, who refers the matter to the Council of the Order. They allow the member to pre-sent his or her defense, and cannot therefore be brought against a deceased person.
The Council deliberates on each case and issues an opinion recommending one of the three sanctions provided for in the Code. This opinion is forwarded to the President of the French Republic, who decides on the sanction.
A reprimand consists of a formal warning from the Grand Chancellor to the offending member, in the form of an unpublished decree. Suspension and exclusion are made official by a decree published in the Journal Officiel (French government gazette). The sanction of withdrawal applied to foreigners is not published, as is the case for nominations.
The specfic case of discipline of foreign heads of state and government is the sole responsibility of the President of the French Republic.
Code of the Legion of Honor
See the articles of the Code of the Legion of Honor that deal with discipline (title V) Code of the Legion of Honor