Social welfare

This chart follows, year by year, the number of decisions issued on social welfare at each level of the administrative courts, and the share they represent among all decisions. This volume measures judicial output and is not the same as the number of cases filed in the same year: a case may be decided months, or even years, after it was filed.

The number of decisions on social welfare went from 10,712 in 2023 to 10,925 in 2025. This subject accounts for 3.9% of all administrative court decisions in 2025 (4.6% in 2024). It accounts for 4.2% of the decisions of the administrative tribunals, 1.5% of the decisions of the courts of appeal and 3.5% of the decisions of the Conseil d'État.

• Administrative tribunals
• Administrative courts of appeal
• Conseil d'État

Series start in 2023, the first full year in which the administrative tribunals and courts of appeal published their decisions. Share: that of the subject among all decisions of the year.

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The table lists the courts that issued at least one decision on social welfare in 2025. For each of them it gives the number of decisions and the share the subject represents among all its decisions, then, where the number of decisions allows it, the dismissal rate and the median time to judgment. Each court links to its own page.

In 2025, 38 administrative tribunals, 9 administrative courts of appeal and the Conseil d'État issued at least one decision on social welfare. Among the administrative tribunals, the Tribunal administratif de Lille (685 decisions), the Tribunal administratif de Marseille (669) and the Tribunal administratif de Paris (643) issued the largest numbers; together they account for 19% of the tribunals' decisions on this subject. Among the courts of appeal, the Cour administrative d'appel de Paris issued the largest number (97). Among the administrative tribunals with at least 1,000 decisions in the year and 200 on this subject, the share of the subject in their caseload ranges from 2.1% for the Tribunal administratif de Paris to 10% for the Tribunal administratif de Toulon. 20 administrative tribunals issued at least 200 decisions on social welfare: the dismissal rate ranges from 51% to 88%; the median time ranges from 9 months to 37 months.

Share of caseload: share of the subject among all the decisions of the court. Dismissal rate not computed below 200 decisions of the court on the subject; median time: judgments only, excluding orders, not computed below 200 judgments. Below 200 decisions in the year, a court only has its number of decisions.

See also Justice in France: all courts

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Time to judgment is the time between the filing of the application and the judgment. It is summarised by the median: half of the cases are decided faster, the other half more slowly. For social welfare, times are shown for each court level, with the quartiles and the spread of judgments over bands of duration, provided the level has at least 200 judgments in the year.

In 2025, an administrative tribunal judgment on social welfare comes a median of 18 months after filing: a quarter of the cases are decided in less than 12 months, a quarter wait more than 24 months. This median was 16 months in 2024. This median time is above the median of all subjects before the administrative tribunals (7 months). Before the administrative courts of appeal, the median time is 16 months (18 months in 2024). Before the Conseil d'État, the median time is 7 months (6 months in 2024).

• Administrative tribunals18 monthsmedian time
• Administrative courts of appeal16 monthsmedian time
• Conseil d'État7 monthsmedian time

See also Tribunal administratif de Lille Tribunal administratif de Marseille times for each court

Judgments only, excluding orders (summary proceedings), counted from the first application filed, in completed months. Time not computed for a court level below 200 judgments in the year.

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The outcome sums up what the decision does: the claim is dismissed, it is granted in whole or in part, or the case ends without the court having to rule on the merits. On appeal and in cassation, a dismissal leaves the contested decision in place, whether the appeal came from the individual or from the public body: the dismissal rate alone does not say who wins the case. For social welfare, the breakdown is given for each court level.

Before the administrative tribunals, 73% of the decisions on social welfare with a stated outcome dismiss the claim, against 57% for all subjects together, and the dismissal rate is up 2 points compared with 2024. The contested act is annulled or the claim granted in 17% of the decisions; withdrawals and “no need to rule” decisions, which end the case without a ruling on the merits, account for 4%. The dismissal rate is 45% before the administrative courts of appeal and 72% before the Conseil d'État.

Decisions with a stated and classified outcome, excluding interim decisions (expert report, investigation). For each court level, the breakdown is given from 200 decisions in the year; below that, it is not shown.

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The decisions of the administrative courts are divided here into 16 categories, one of which is “other matters”, according to the legal texts cited in each decision. The table gives the volume of the other categories in 2025; each row links to its page.

In 2025, the administrative courts issued 279,322 decisions, divided among 16 categories; social welfare accounts for 10,925 (3.9%). The categories with the most decisions, apart from “other matters”, are immigration (111,932), tax (11,968), housing (11,393) and civil service (10,831). Among the subjects with at least 1,000 decisions before the administrative tribunals, the median time ranges from 3 months for immigration to 27 months for tax.

Subject determined from the legal texts cited in each decision; “other matters” groups decisions without a characteristic text.

See also Justice in France

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