Ethics are necessary in assessment. By trying to characterize the ethical approach, this article is devoted to the study of how ethical issues raised by assessment practices can be addressed. At the beginning, three analysis levels are identified in the Principles [...]: recommendations, requirements and values. The ethical work that appears filigree in this text is first considered as a method that starts from "problem spaces" up to the activity purposes; it is then analyzed in the framework of the "legitimate referencing spaces".