1. A method of temporal prediction using motion estimation in a sequence of digital images, in the context of coding in a bitstream comprising at least first (BL) and second (RL 1 ) layers linked to each other in a chosen hierarchical relationship of scalability, each image of the second layer (RL 1 ) comprising a plurality of groups of blocks of pixels (sgldx), said coding enabling the access to spatial parts of the images, the method of temporal prediction being applied to at least one current group of an image of the current second layer of the sequence, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: constructing at least one set of reference pixels for the temporal prediction (Erefldx) on the basis of information from a prediction image of the second layer (RL 1 ) and complementary information from an image of the first layer (BL) corresponding temporally to said prediction image; and for each block of the current group (sgldx) of the image of the current second layer, searching for at least one block of the reference set of pixels so constructed that is suitable for the temporal prediction; and determining at least one corresponding motion vector.