French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Pursuant to Article 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the purpose of a civil action, which may be brought before the criminal court (CPC, Article 3) or before the civil court independently of the prosecution (CPC, Article 4), is to compensate for the harm caused by a crime, a misdemeanor ("délit") or a contravention. The Consumer Code regulates two types of civil action allowing authorized cons …

Rights of civil claimants

Pursuant to Article 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the purpose of a civil action, which may be brought before the criminal court (CPC, Article 3) or before the civil court independently of the prosecution (CPC, Article 4), is to compensate for the harm caused by a crime, a misdemeanor ("délit") or a contravention. The Consumer Code regulates two types of civil action allowing authorized consumer associations to:

- exercise the rights granted to civil parties for acts which directly or indirectly harm the collective interest of consumers (Article L. 621-1) ;

- ask the court to order the defendant or the accused, where necessary subject to penalties, to take any measures necessary for the cessation of the illegal activities or to remove unlawful clauses from the contract or the standard agreement offered to consumers (Article L. 621-2) .

In accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the first civil chamber of the Court of Cassation logically makes the exercise of a civil action by consumer associations subject to the existence of a criminal offense . Civil action brought by an association cannot have as its object the compensation for harm caused by offenses not upheld by the “tribunal correctionnel” (criminal court)  . However, although the action requires the existence of unlawful acts constituting a criminal offense, it is not necessary for criminal proceedings to have been instituted . This interpretation, which for a long period applied both to actions based on former Article L. 421-1 and former Article L. 421-2 , now appears to have been partially challenged by the Court of Cassation, which has considered that the unlawful act referred to in former Article L. 421-2 (now L. 621-2) of the Consumer Code does not necessarily have to constitute a criminal offense . That solution appears to be in total conflict with the principles of civil actions. 

Although the existence of a criminal offense is still required for Article L. 621-1 to apply, the courts do not restrict the exercise of the action to offenses specifically detrimental to the interests of consumers. In effect, “no offense having given rise to direct or indirect harm to the collective interest of consumers is excluded from the provisions” . Included amongst such actions have been: keeping of contaminated food at a sales outlet , deception , misleading commercial practice , infringement of the rules on the display of prices , lotteries , resale below cost , fraud , active and passive corruption , manslaughter and unintentional bodily harm , pollution , violation of the Public Health Code in respect of medical contracts  or violation of the Insurance Code .

Cass. crim., 31 January 1983, LawLex200400001316JBJ; 15 October 1997, LawLex200300003614JBJ.

TGI Rennes, 24 October 2001, LawLex200600001486JBJ.

Cass. crim., 22 August 1990, LawLex200400001549JBJ; 18 February 1998, LawLex200300002444JBJ.

Cass. crim., 10 October 1996, LawLex200200000336JBJ.

Cass. crim., 30 January 1995, LawLex200300003779JBJ, cited above.

Cass. crim., 27 October 1997, LawLex200400001327JBJ; 9 April 1999, LawLex201400000262JBJ.

Cass. crim., 24 June 1997, LawLex200400001326JBJ: concerning the collapse of Furiani stadium in Bastia, Corsica; 1 April 2008, LawLex200800000811JBJ.

Cass. crim., 25 September 2012, LawLex201400000335JBJ.

Cass. crim., 15 May 1984, LawLex201400000263JBJ. Also see Cass. crim., 6 July 1994, LawLex200600001393JBJ; CA Paris, 7 May 2010, LawLex201400000277JBJ.

CA Riom, 12 June 2013, LawLex201400000310JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 16 January 1985, LawLex201400000259JBJ, which underlines that a civil action is "action for the repair of damage caused by a breach of the criminal law" and cannot be relied on for claims damages for "breaches of obligations arising from a contract".

CA Angers, 17 December 2008, LawLex201400000271JBJ.

CA Rennes, 2 October 2009, LawLex201200001219JBJ.

TGI Paris, 18 May 2004, LawLex200400001724JBJ and LawLex200400001699JBJ, dismissing an action purporting to prevent the use of clauses in a banking agreement in the absence of any criminal offense.

Cass. 1re civ., 25 March 2010, LawLex201200001127JBJ. See also CA Paris, 9 October 2012, LawLex201400000293JBJ; CA Rennes, 3 April 2013, LawLex201400000337JBJ. See also Cass. 1re civ., 1 February 2005, LawLex200500004122JBJ, holding, on the basis of former Article L. 421-2 (now L. 621-2), that the presence of unfair terms in itself constitutes a fault such as to violate the collective interest of consumers.

Cass. crim., 30 January 1995, LawLex200300003779JBJ.

Cass. crim., 17 June 1981, LawLex200600001609JBJ.

Cass. crim., 7 January 1987, LawLex200400001322JBJ; TGI Nanterre, 24 June 2003, LawLex200300002399JBJ.

French Consumer Law

25. Rights of civil claimants

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

25. Rights of civil claimants

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise