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

Legal action constitutes a right that the litigant may freely exercise provided it is not abused. Indeed, the litigant benefits from immunity that precludes blaming them for a fault when they fail in exercising their right to bring proceedings . Legal action is optional, meaning that, in principle, the holder of the right to bring proceedings can decide whether or not to exercise it, and no one ca …

Right to bring proceedings

Legal action constitutes a right that the litigant may freely exercise provided it is not abused. Indeed, the litigant benefits from immunity that precludes blaming them for a fault when they fail in exercising their right to bring proceedings . Legal action is optional, meaning that, in principle, the holder of the right to bring proceedings can decide whether or not to exercise it, and no one can be compelled to take legal action. However, this rule has a number of limitations.

First, when the holder of the right to bring proceedings is an incapacitated person, the exercise of legal action follows the rules of representation, which impose a number of obligations on the representative. Article 436, para. 3, of the Civil Code states that “those who are qualified to request the opening of a guardianship or curatorship are required to perform the necessary protective acts to preserve the estate of the protected person as soon as they are aware of both their urgency and the opening of the protective measure. The same provisions apply to the person or institution housing the person under protection.” Furthermore, Article 475, para. 2, of the same code provides that the guardian may be instructed to act to assert the non-proprietary rights of the protected person by the court or the family council if one has been constituted.

A second limitation arises from the authorizations to act, notably those of trade unions on behalf of employees or persons authorized on behalf of the legal entity , as well as scenarios in which the Public Prosecutor's Office is required to bring proceedings, such as in matters of nationality exception (Art. 29-4 Civil Code) or marriage invalidity (Art. 190 Civil Code).

On the legitimacy of the action recognized by the court of first instance, See Cass. 1re civ., 10 March 1998, No 95-21.817, LawLex202200006116JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 10 May 2007, No 05-13.628, LawLex202200009357JBJ; 16 October 2008, No 07-18.766, LawLex202200009145JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 20 June 2024, No 23-10.571.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

44. Right to bring proceedings

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

44. Right to bring proceedings

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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