Introduction

Role of the parties

Role of judge

Contentious matters

Concept

Powers of the judge

Principle of adversarial proceedings

Non-contentious matters

Underlying principles of civil proceedings

Right to bring civil action

Abuse of the right to bring proceedings

Type of action

Concept of action

Interest in bringing proceedings

Standing

Rules governing action

Legal action

Initial claim

Counterclaim

Additional claim

Intervention

Incidental claim

Interruption of limitation period

Application to file suit (demande en justice)

Defense on the merits

Procedural objections (exceptions de procédure)

Procedural bars to admissibility (fins de non-recevoir)

Defenses

Nature of claim

Amount of the claim

Jurisdiction ratione materiae

Principles

Exceptional territorial jurisdiction

Extension of jurisdiction

Territorial jurisdiction

Competent court

Formal requirements

Substantive requirements

Presentation of the QPC (Question prioritaire de constitutionnalité)

Referral to Court of Cassation

Referral to Constitutional Council

Referral of the QPC

Investigation procedure

Conduct of hearing

Decision of the Constitutional Council

Proceedings before Constitutional Council

Priority question of constitutionality (QPC)

Simplified case preparation procedure

Participative procedure for case preparation purposes

Extra-judicial case preparation

Recourse to technical expert

Agreements on extra-judicial case preparation (mise en état)

Disclosure of exhibits

Production of documents

Exhibits

Common provisions for investigations

Rules specific to each investigation

Investigative measures

Disputes concerning private deeds (actes sous seing privé)

Forgery procedure against authentic instruments

Challenges to documentary evidence

Oath sworn as decisive evidence

Oath tendered by way of supplementation

Judicial oath

Administration of evidence

Hearings

Deliberations

Judgment

Formation

Judgment after adversarial proceedings

Judgment by default or judgment after trial

Contentious or non-contentious judgment

Judgment on the merits or provisional ruling (avant dire droit)

Combined judgment

Provisional judgment

Judgment in fast track proceedings

Types

Joinder and severance of proceedings

Interruption of proceedings

Suspension of proceedings

Discontinuance of proceedings (extinction)

Procedural incidents

Plea of lack of jurisdiction

Recusal/Dismissal for legitimate suspicion

Challenging the judge's competence

General rules

Voluntary intervention

Compulsory intervention

Joinder in proceedings (intervention)

Existence of a judgment

Same subject matter, cause, and parties

Authority of res judicata

General conditions of enforcement

Provisional enforcement

Grace period

Enforcement of the judgment

Bearing of costs

Order to pay non-recoverable costs

Verification/Recovery

Claims/Disputes

Costs and expenses

Ordinary remedies

Extraordinary remedies

Remedies

Judgments

Calculation of time-limits

Acts of judicial commissioners

Service of documents

Ordinary notification

Notification between lawyers

International notification

Place of notification

Notification

Communication by electronic means

Procedural acts

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

The Code of Civil Procedure sets several limits to the rule that the court “must give or restore their exact classification to the facts and disputed acts without stopping at the designation proposed by the parties.” In addition to the determination of the subject matter of the dispute by the respective claims of the parties in Article 5, the Code provides in Article 7, para. 1, that “the court ca …

Facts in the proceedings

The parties have the option to bind the court “by the classifications and points of law to which they intend to limit the debate” (Art. 12, para. 3, CPC). In other words, they can agree, even before any dispute arises, on the applicable law, preventing the court from reclassifying the facts or raising legal arguments ex officio. Thus, the parties can voluntarily submit to the protective regimes defined by the Consumer Code for credit agreements that do not fall under it according to the provisions of this code . However, this agreement must concern rights over which the parties have free disposal and requires the conclusion of an express and unequivocal agreement. Mere concordance of submissions is not sufficient . This requirement is more flexibly assessed by case law when the parties request the application of French law . In this case, their agreement can be inferred from the concordance of their submissions. For rights over which they have free disposal, the Court of Cassation considers that the parties' express agreement on the application of the French law of the forum, despite the existence of an international convention or a contractual clause designating the applicable law, can result from their submissions invoking a law other than that designated by a treaty or by the contract .

On the other hand, even after express agreement, the parties are not allowed to modify the rules governing remedies with respect to awards as determined by the domestic or international regime .

Cass. 1re civ., 1 June 1999, LawLex202200008164JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 16 October 2008, LawLex202200009145JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 1 July 1997, LawLex202200003981JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 6 May 1997, LawLex202200003980JBJ, LawLex202200003981JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 6 April 1994, LawLex202200005668JBJ.

Parties' option to choose legal regime

The prohibition for the court to rule in equity, which results from Article 12, does not apply to situations where the parties assign the court the task of ruling as an amiable compositeur or when the legislator expressly provides for it (Art. 12, para. 4, and 58 CPC). Thus, Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure states that “the court takes into account equity or the economic situation of the party ordered to pay.” In the case of an amiable composition agreement, there must be an existing dispute, an express agreement of the parties, and the free disposition by them of their rights, noting that the mere concordance of the parties' submissions is not sufficient. The amiable composition agreement does not exclude the application of legal rules, but the court must explain the conformity of the legal rule to equity. It must thus highlight in its decision that it has considered equity. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, when the parties have assigned the first-instance court the task of ruling as an amiable compositeur, the Court of Appeal is entrusted with the same task.

Amiable composition (ex aequo et bono )

The Code of Civil Procedure sets several limits to the rule that the court “must give or restore their exact classification to the facts and disputed acts without stopping at the designation proposed by the parties.” In addition to the determination of the subject matter of the dispute by the respective claims of the parties in Article 5, the Code provides in Article 7, para. 1, that “the court cannot base its decision on facts that have not been raised in the proceedings.” Thus, according to the Court of Cassation, trial courts may refrain from ruling on a basis not raised by the parties . Similarly, if the Court of Appeal is not required to substitute ex officio the remedy it is seized with for another remedy , it may, however, restore the legal action to its true procedural classification without stopping at the proposed designation . Finally, the texts require the court, in exercising its power to resolve the dispute in accordance with the applicable rules of law, to respect the adversarial principle (Art. 16, para. 1, CPC) .

Cass. com., 23 June 1992, LawLex200300003407JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 26 June 1985, LawLex202200007242JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 9 January 1991, No 89-18.877, LawLex202200005509JBJ, which specifies that it matters little that the parties did not include the words “third-party opposition” in their writ of summons.

Cass. 1re civ., 29 November 1978, LawLex202200007235JBJ; 15 January 1980, No 78-11.833, LawLex202200007226JBJ.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

27. Facts in the proceedings

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

27. Facts in the proceedings

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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