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 accordance with Article 55 of Decree No 2019-1333 , which amended Article 514 of the Code of Civil Procedure, for actions initiated before first-instance courts from 1 January 2020, first-instance decisions are provisionally enforceable by right unless the law or the decision rendered provides otherwise. Previously, provisional enforcement could not be pursued without being ordered, except for  …

Conditions

In accordance with Article 55 of Decree No 2019-1333 , which amended Article 514 of the Code of Civil Procedure, for actions initiated before first-instance courts from 1 January 2020, first-instance decisions are provisionally enforceable by right unless the law or the decision rendered provides otherwise. Previously, provisional enforcement could not be pursued without being ordered, except for decisions that benefited from it by right, such as interim orders, decisions prescribing interim measures during the proceedings, those ordering protective measures, as well as orders from the pre-trial judge granting an advance to the creditor.

Provisional enforcement can only be set aside by the decision in question (Art. 514-2 CPC), except in the cases listed in Article 514-1 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Thus, the court may set aside, ex officio or at the request of a party by a specially reasoned decision, the provisional enforcement as of right, in whole or in part, if it considers that it is incompatible with the nature of the case (Art. 514-1, para. 1 and 2, CPC) . However, the court cannot, by exception, set aside the provisional enforcement as of right when ruling in interim proceedings, when it prescribes provisional measures for the course of the proceedings, when it orders interim protective measures, or when it grants an advance to the creditor as a pre-trial judge (Art. 584-1, para. 3, CPC).

Execution may also be halted at the request of a party in the event of an appeal or opposition. In the case of an appeal, the first president may halt the provisional execution of the decision under two conditions: the existence of a serious ground for annulment or modification and a risk of manifestly excessive consequences due to the provisional execution. In the case of opposition, the judge who rendered the decision may also, ex officio or at the request of a party, halt the provisional execution by right that risks causing manifestly excessive consequences. When the request comes from a party who appeared at first instance but did not make any observations on the provisional execution, this request is admissible only if, in addition to the aforementioned serious grounds, the provisional execution risks causing manifestly excessive consequences that became apparent after the first instance (Art. 514-3 CPC). When the execution by right is set aside, in whole or in part, its reinstatement can only be requested, in the event of an appeal, by the first president or, once seized, by the pre-trial judge, provided there is urgency, that this reinstatement is compatible with the nature of the case, and that it does not risk causing manifestly excessive consequences (Art. 514-4 CPC). In all cases, the first president rules in interim proceedings by a decision that is not subject to appeal (Art. 514-5 CPC).

Whether the court dismisses the application or orders the reinstatement of provisional enforcement, its decision may be subject, at the request of a party or ex officio, to the provision of a guarantee, real or personal, sufficient to cover all restitutions or reparations (Art. 514-5 CPC).

Decree No 2019-1333 of 11 December 2019 reforming civil procedure, OJ of 12 December 2019.

Such is the case, for example, with the judgment ruling on nationality (Art. 1041 Code of Civil Procedure), decisions of the family affairs judge that terminate proceedings (Art. 1074-1 Code of Civil Procedure), or decisions of the labor tribunal (Art. R. 1454-28 Labor Code).

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

246. Conditions

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Les notions juridiques connexes

246. Conditions

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Les notions juridiques connexes

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