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

Pursuant to Article 667 of the Code of Civil Procedure, notification in the ordinary form may be effected, in a sealed envelope or package, in two ways: either by post or by delivery of the document to the recipient against signature or receipt. Moreover, it may always be effected by delivery against signature or receipt, even if the law only provides for service by post, as signature involves few …

Ordinary notification (en la forme ordinaire)

Pursuant to Article 667 of the Code of Civil Procedure, notification in the ordinary form may be effected, in a sealed envelope or package, in two ways: either by post or by delivery of the document to the recipient against signature or receipt. Moreover, it may always be effected by delivery against signature or receipt, even if the law only provides for service by post, as signature involves fewer uncertainties than service by post.

According to Article 693, it must include, on pain of invalidity, certain mandatory information. Under the terms of Article 665, the notification must contain all details relating to the name and first names, or the corporate name or business name of the person from whom it originates and the domicile or registered office of that person, and must designate, in the same manner, the recipient's identity.

Article 665-1 provides that when it concerns the service on the defendant of an initiating document carried out at the diligence of the court registry, the notification must contain: its date, the court before which the application is brought, an indication that, should the defendant fail to appear, a judgment may be rendered against them based solely on the elements provided by their opponent, if applicable, the date of the hearing to which the defendant is summoned, as well as the conditions under which they may be assisted or represented. Finally, Article 666 states that the rest of the mandatory information is determined, according to the nature of the notified document, by the specific rules applicable to each matter.

According to Article 668, the date of notification by post is, in principle, for the person who sends it, the date of dispatch, and for the person to whom it is addressed, the date of receipt of the letter. The Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation thus considers that the filing of the statement of reasons can be done by sending a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt and that, in this case, the date of dispatch of the letter must be taken into account to determine if the one-month period for filing this statement has been respected .

For greater legal certainty, Article 669 provides that the date of dispatch of a notification sent by post is the one indicated by the postmark of the issuing office, that the date of delivery is the one on the receipt or the signature, and finally, that the date of receipt of a notification sent by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt is the one affixed by the postal administration when the letter is delivered to its recipient.

Pursuant to Article 670, service is deemed to be made to the person when the acknowledgment of receipt is signed by the recipient, and at domicile or residence when the acknowledgment of receipt is signed by a person with authority for that purpose, so that the signature on the acknowledgment of receipt of a registered letter addressed to an individual is presumed to be, until proven otherwise, that of the recipient or their agent .

Article 670-1 provides that in the event of the return to the court registry of a notification letter whose acknowledgment of receipt has not been signed under the conditions provided for in Article 670, the court clerk invites the party to proceed by way of service , so that the time limits for appeal may begin  and this rule applies regardless of the reason for the return . Thus, a court of appeal cannot, in order to declare inadmissible as late, the appeal lodged against a judgment of the labor tribunal, hold that it is the date of presentation of the registered letter notifying the judgment at the domicile of the absent party that triggered the time limit, even if subsequently a service of the judgment by judicial commissioner took place, when the letter had not been delivered to the recipient and had been returned to the secretariat of the labor tribunal without receipt or signature .

Finally, Articles 670-2 and 670-3 set out the rules applicable to the service of documents in the usual form when the document is intended for a person residing in an overseas collectivity (COM), or when the service must be carried out abroad.

Cass. civ. 2e, 21 May 2015, LawLex202300012677JBJ.

Cass. civ. 2e, 1 October 2020, LawLex202300012710JBJ.

Cass. soc., 6 September 2023, LawLex202400005682JBJ.

Cass. soc., 5 March 1992, LawLex202300012706JBJ; 7 July 1993, LawLex202300012707JBJ.

Cass. soc., 7 November 2007, LawLex202300012708JBJ.

Cass. civ. 2e, 22 June 1983, LawLex202300012705JBJ.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

285. Ordinary notification (en la forme ordinaire)

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

285. Ordinary notification (en la forme ordinaire)

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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