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

In principle, an appeal is available to the parties to the proceedings but may also, in certain cases, be initiated by third parties. There is a variety of appeals, which have particular features when multiple parties are involved.
The appeal is termed principal when it is initiated by a person who takes the initiative to challenge the judgment rendered at first instance. Under the terms of Articl …

Principal appeal

In principle, an appeal is available to the parties to the proceedings but may also, in certain cases, be initiated by third parties. There is a variety of appeals, which have particular features when multiple parties are involved.

The appeal is termed principal when it is initiated by a person who takes the initiative to challenge the judgment rendered at first instance. Under the terms of Article 546, para. 1, of the Code of Civil Procedure, the right to appeal belongs to any party with an interest, provided they have not waived it . The existence of this interest is assessed on the day of the appeal, whose admissibility cannot depend on subsequent circumstances . The interest in filing an appeal is measured by the failure to obtain satisfaction on one or more claims presented at first instance . Once a Court of Appeal is properly seized of an appeal whose lapse has not been established, a repeated appeal of the same judgment against the same respondent is inadmissible due to a lack of interest in filing an appeal . The irregular seizure of a Court of Appeal, which results in the inadmissibility of the appeal, does not prevent its author from filing a second appeal, even without prior withdrawal of the first appeal, provided the appeal period has not expired, as long as the first appeal has not been declared inadmissible .

In contentious matters, an appeal can only be directed against those who were parties in the first instance . All those who were parties may be respondents (Art. 547 CPC). Therefore, an appeal directed exclusively against a third party to the first instance is inadmissible . Thus, a particular successor who is not represented by their predecessor concerning acts performed in a procedure related to the property given under lease-management  or in a procedure related to the property transferred after its sale  is inadmissible to lodge an appeal.

In non-contentious matters, the right to appeal is also available to third parties to whom the judgment has been notified (Art. 546, para. 2, CPC) , and the appeal is admissible even in the absence of other parties (Art. 547, para. 2, CPC).

The waiver of the right to appeal cannot precede the emergence of the dispute (Art. 557 CPC). It can be express or result from the unconditional execution of a non-enforceable judgment and is not valid if, subsequently, another party itself regularly files an appeal (Art. 558 CPC). In other words, it can only result from acts that clearly and unequivocally demonstrate the litigant's intention to waive their right to appeal. The fact that a party supports the validity of the arbitration clause excluding appeal in the appellate court does not demonstrate their clear and unequivocal intention to waive their right to appeal . Similarly, the wording of an arbitration clause stating that the arbitral award is final and its execution immediately binding on the parties, and specifying that no appeal will be suspensive, does not establish the parties' unequivocal intention to waive their right to appeal . The mere fact of not opposing an expert measure does not, in itself, constitute a waiver of the right to appeal a decision that has resolved the dispute in principle . The act of withdrawing an appeal, which mentions being done for the purpose of filing a new appeal, does not constitute a waiver of exercising that appeal. For the court, the mere fact that a party does not oppose the requests made before the trial court does not mean that they waive their right to appeal .

Finally, the court, to ensure the seriousness of the parties when they exercise their right, has the power to impose sanctions. It can thus order the appellant to pay a civil fine in the case of a dilatory or abusive principal appeal (Art. 559 CPC)  or order damages against someone who files a principal appeal after having failed, without legitimate reason, to appear at the first instance (Art. 560 CPC). The dilatory or abusive nature is subject to the sovereign assessment of the trial court. A court of appeal cannot order an appellant to pay damages for an abusive appeal by holding that the appellant abused their right by persisting, on appeal, in accusing their opponent of bad faith, inconsistency, carelessness, and aggressiveness . Nor can it, to characterize a dilatory or abusive appeal, refer solely to the minor financial stakes involved .

Cass. 2e civ., 4 November 1992, LawLex202300014511JBJ; Cass. 1re civ., 28 February 1995, LawLex202200005684JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 17 May 2018, LawLex202300014555JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 10 November 1982, LawLex202300014520JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 1 July 1992, LawLex202300014508JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 31 March 2011, LawLex202300014561JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 26 February 1970, LawLex202300014533JBJ; 5 January 1978, LawLex202300014514JBJ; 5 July 2006, LawLex202300014515JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 20 July 1981, LawLex202300014529JBJ, specifying that this provision applies to the interim order; 7 March 1984, LawLex202300014517JBJ, LawLex202300014513JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 29 June 1977, LawLex202300014535JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 7 December 1999, LawLex202300014504JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 11 July 1990, LawLex202300014522JBJ; 26 November 2020, LawLex202300014560JBJ; 4 March 2021, LawLex202300014495JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 11 May 2017, LawLex202300014551JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 1 October 2020, LawLex202300014545JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 12 June 2003, LawLex202300014523JBJ, considering that the appeal directed against a party in the capacity of judicial administrator and commissioner for the execution of the plan must be declared inadmissible, the latter having appeared in the proceedings at first instance in their personal name; 7 September 2017, LawLex202300012831JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 4 October 2007, LawLex202300014546JBJ, JCP No 43, 2007, IV 2968.

Cass. 3e civ., 8 April 2008, LawLex202300014562JBJ, Procedures 2008, No 164, note PERROT. See also Cass. 1re civ., 21 June 2005, LawLex202300010924JBJ, considering that the party whose guarantee was upheld at first instance is admissible to appeal the judgment by which their successor was ordered to compensate a third party.

Cass. 2e civ., 22 March 2007, LawLex202300014559JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 23 January 1996, LawLex202300014507JBJ, considering that a Court of Appeal disregards Articles 546 para. 2 and 675 para. 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure by upholding the admissibility of a notice of appeal made by a person to whom a judgment approving a change in the matrimonial regime of spouses has not been notified by the court registry, as the appeal is not available in these circumstances.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

266. Principal appeal

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Les notions juridiques connexes

266. Principal appeal

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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