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

Ordinary remedy governed by Articles 571 to 578 of the Code of Civil Procedure, opposition aims to have a default judgment retracted (Art. 571, para. 1, CPC). The right to opposition is granted, under Article 571, paragraph 2, of the Code of Civil Procedure, only to the defaulting party. Thus, a party who, having been personally served, did not appear is not admissible to file an opposition . The  …

Conditions

Ordinary remedy governed by Articles 571 to 578 of the Code of Civil Procedure, opposition aims to have a default judgment retracted (Art. 571, para. 1, CPC). The right to opposition is granted, under Article 571, paragraph 2, of the Code of Civil Procedure, only to the defaulting party. Thus, a party who, having been personally served, did not appear is not admissible to file an opposition . The defaulting party is required to justify their opposition (Art. 574 CPC) . They cannot merely express their wish to oppose without presenting their factual or legal grounds .

Furthermore, Article 476 provides that a judgment rendered by default may be subject to opposition, except in cases where this remedy is expressly excluded. This is the case for decisions that order or modify an investigative measure or those related to the enforcement of an investigative measure (Articles 150 and 170, Code of Civil Procedure). Similarly, judgments rendered on appeal against a decision that ruled solely on the court's jurisdiction cannot be subject to opposition (Article 87, Code of Civil Procedure). Additionally, Article 622 states that judgments rendered by the Court of Cassation are not subject to opposition. Finally, anyone who allows themselves to be judged a second time by default is no longer permitted to file a new opposition (Article 578, Code of Civil Procedure).

According to Article 573, opposition is made in the forms provided for the application before the court that rendered the decision (para. 1). It may be made in the form of notifications between lawyers before courts where representation is mandatory (para. 2). In this case, it must, on pain of inadmissibility, be declared to the court registry that rendered the decision by the lawyer appointed by the defaulting party, within one month from the date it was filed (Art. 575 CPC). Paragraph 3 specifies that when the opposition aims to retract a decision of a court of appeal rendered by default in a matter governed by proceedings without mandatory representation, it is filed by a declaration that the party or any representative makes, or sends by registered mail, to the registry of the court that ruled. The opposition is instructed and judged according to the rules applicable before the court of appeal to proceedings without mandatory representation.

Finally, Article 574 states that the opposition must contain the arguments of the defaulting party, without specifying the penalty incurred by the defaulting party if it fails to meet this obligation.

Opposition, pursuant to Article 539 of the Code of Civil Procedure, has a suspensive effect on the judgment. It then challenges, before the same court, the points judged by default so that they may be reconsidered in fact and in law, based on the submissions made by the parties .

Pursuant to Article 576, the case is investigated and judged according to the rules applicable before the court that rendered the decision subject to enforcement. In the proceedings that restart, the admissibility of the respective claims of the applicant and the opposing party is assessed, based on the original application, according to ordinary rules (Art. 577 CPC). The proceedings on enforcement may lead to a confirmation of the original judgment. In this case, the effects of the judgment rendered date back to the date of the first judgment rendered by default. It is this first judgment that is then enforced. Conversely, the proceedings may result in the retraction of the initial judgment, in which case the resulting judgment has the effect of nullifying the judgment subject to enforcement (Art. 572 CPC).

Cass. 2e civ., 4 September 2014, LawLex202300014629JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 6 October 1993, LawLex202300014627JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 11 April 2013, LawLex202300014630JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 18 January 1989, LawLex202300014628JBJ.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

272. Conditions

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Les notions juridiques connexes

272. Conditions

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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