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

At the close of the proceedings, the case is taken under deliberation. During this secret phase of the procedure, the judges agree on the solution to be provided to the dispute based on the elements of the case file. A judgment can only be validly pronounced if the same judges have attended the proceedings and deliberated on it . Articles 447 to 449 of the Code of Civil Procedure subject the valid …

At the close of the proceedings, the case is taken under deliberation. During this secret phase of the procedure, the judges agree on the solution to be provided to the dispute based on the elements of the case file. A judgment can only be validly pronounced if the same judges have attended the proceedings and deliberated on it . Articles 447 to 449 of the Code of Civil Procedure subject the validity of the deliberation to a number of requirements.

Pursuant to Article 447, “it is for the courts before which the case has been argued to deliberate (...)”. In other words, the judges who deliberate must have attended the hearing . Thus, the judge responsible for the report who alone holds the hearing to hear the pleadings must belong to the bench that deliberates on the case . The names of the judges must be mentioned, on pain of invalidity (Articles 458 and 459 CPC) . According to the Court of Cassation, in the absence of contrary statements, the judges designated in the judgment as having deliberated are presumed to have been the only ones to have attended the proceedings .

The court must be composed of a number of judges at least equal to that prescribed by the rules relating to judicial organization (Art. 447 CPC). They deliberate in an odd number (Art. L. 121-2 COJ) , unless otherwise provided (Art. L. 212-1 et seq. COJ; Art. L. 1421-1 Labor Code; Art. L. 722-1 Commercial Code; Art. L. 492-1 Rural and Maritime Fishing Code). Objections relating to the composition of the court must, in principle, be raised, on pain of inadmissibility, at the opening of the proceedings or upon the revelation of the irregularity if it occurs later, failing which no invalidity can subsequently be pronounced on this ground, even ex officio . Thus, a decision must be annulled if the judges have disregarded the principle of odd numbers, including when this disregard is revealed after the proceedings .

Article 448 of the Code of Civil Procedure establishes the principle of the confidentiality of deliberations. Judges, upon their appointment, take an oath to respect this confidentiality (Art. 6 Ord. 581270 of 22 December 1958) . The mention in the judgment, among the judges who participated, of the name of its drafter does not breach the confidentiality of the deliberation, as long as it does not reveal the stance taken by the drafter . The confidential nature of the deliberation implies the absence of the court clerk  and the Public Prosecutor's Office during it. However, the indication of the court clerk  or the Public Prosecutor , who are part of the court, under the mention “composition of the Court during the proceedings and the deliberation,” does not imply that they attended the latter. As an exception to the principle of confidentiality of deliberations, judges participating in a training session may be authorized to attend the deliberations of the judicial courts where they are interning (Art. 1 L. 77-749 of 8 July 1977) . However, this exception does not apply to trainee lawyers who, during their training, complete an internship in a court .

The decision is rendered by majority vote (Art. 449 Code of Civil Procedure).

Cass. 1re civ., 15 March 2023, LawLex202300007813JBJ.

Cass. com. 14 October 1997, LawLex202300009201JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 20 January 2011, LawLex202300009207JBJ.

Cass. com., 17 November 1992, LawLex202300008986JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 10 June 1998, LawLex202300008985JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 29 June 2000, LawLex202300008989JBJ; 18 February 2010, LawLex202300008922JBJ; Cass. 1re civ., 8 February 2017, LawLex202300008992JBJ; 20 April 2017, Cass. 2e civ., 18 February 2010, LawLex202300008922JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 23 April 1986, LawLex202300008988JBJ.

Law No 77-749 of 8 July 1977 allowing judges participating in training sessions to attend deliberations and chief clerks admitted to follow specific probationary training before their appointment as judges to participate in the activities of public prosecutor's offices and courts of the judicial order, OJ of 10 July 1977.

Cass. 2e civ., 9 September 2010, LawLex202300009101JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 23 September 2004, LawLex202300007812JBJ; Cass. soc., 26 January 2005, LawLex202300007580JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 8 February 2012, LawLex202300009211JBJ, holds that the judgment mentioning a composition of the court during the proceedings and deliberation different from that recorded in the hearing register during the proceedings must be declared null, as it does not allow for the identification of the names of the judges who participated in all the proceedings and validly deliberated; Cass. soc., 15 March 2012, LawLex202300009213JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 23 June 2022, LawLex202300009209JBJ.

Cass. soc., 19 December 1996, LawLex202300009202JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 12 October 2006, LawLex202300007577JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 6 February 1991, LawLex202300007583JBJ; Cass. 1re civ., 15 November 2005, LawLex202300009200JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 21 January 2010, LawLex202300009208JBJ; Cass. 1re civ., 31 March 2011, LawLex202300009203JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 19 November 2020, LawLex202300009206JBJ; 26 November 2020, LawLex202300009210JBJ; 9 December 2021, LawLex202300009205JBJ; 23 June 2022, LawLex202300009209JBJ.

Cass. com., 4 May 2010, LawLex202100006133JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 15 November 2005, LawLex202300009200JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 21 January 2010, LawLex202300009208JBJ; 6 May 2010, LawLex202300009204JBJ; Cass. com., 19 January 2022, LawLex202300009212JBJ.

Ordinance No 58-1270 of 22 December 1958 on the organic law relating to the status of the judiciary, JO of 23 December 1958.

Cass. soc., 11 June 1996, LawLex202300008990JBJ.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

206. Deliberations

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Les notions juridiques connexes

206. Deliberations

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

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