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

Following the Ordinance of 2 June 2016, regarding the status of judicial commissioner , enacted pursuant to the Law for growth, activity, and equal economic opportunities of 6 August 2015 , the professions of court bailiff (huissier de justice) and judicial auctioneer (commissaire-priseur judiciaire) merged on 1 July 2022 to create the single profession of judicial commissioner. Henceforth, althou …

Following the Ordinance of 2 June 2016, regarding the status of judicial commissioner , enacted pursuant to the Law for growth, activity, and equal economic opportunities of 6 August 2015 , the professions of court bailiff (huissier de justice) and judicial auctioneer (commissaire-priseur judiciaire) merged on 1 July 2022 to create the single profession of judicial commissioner. Henceforth, although the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure sometimes still refer to the “court bailiff,” it should be understood as judicial commissioner.

Article 1 of the Ordinance of 2 June 2016 defines judicial commissioners as public and ministerial officers qualified, under the conditions set by the laws and regulations in force, notably to enforce court decisions, as well as enforceable acts or instruments, conduct inventories, appraisals, and public auctions of tangible or intangible movables prescribed by law or court decision, serve acts and writs, make notifications prescribed by laws and regulations when the mode of notification has not been specified, carry out interim protective measures after the opening of an estate, provide courtroom services at hearings before courts and tribunals, issue and enforce writs provided for in Article L. 131-73 of the Monetary and Financial Code in case of non-payment of checks, implement the simplified procedure for the recovery of small claims provided for in Article L. 125-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures, draw up inspection reports of premises, and  assist the chief clerk in his task of auditing guardianship accounts.

Any act issued by judicial commissioners must, pursuant to Article 648 of the Code of Civil Procedure, indicate:

- if the applicant is a natural person: their last name, first names, occupation, domicile, nationality, date and place of birth;

- if the applicant is a legal entity: its form, name, registered office, and the body that legally represents it;

- the surname, first names, address, and signature of the judicial commissioner;

- if the document must be served, the name and domicile of the recipient, or, if it is a legal entity, its name and registered office.

The Court of Cassation specifies that no legal or regulatory provision requires, however, that the name of the judicial commissioner who served the document be included on it .

When a mandatory information prescribed in Article 648 is missing, the document is tainted with invalidity. Article 649 specifies that this invalidity is governed by the provisions that regulate the invalidity of procedural documents, namely Articles 112 to 121 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Furthermore, in the event of unnecessary acts or invalid acts, due to the fault of the judicial commissioner who is the author, Article 650 of the same code places the costs related to these acts on the judicial commissioners who performed them.

Ordinance No 2016-728 of 2 June 2016, regarding the status of judicial commissioner, JO 0128 of 3 June 2016.

Law No 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for growth, activity, and equal economic opportunities, JO 0181 of 7 August 2015.

Cass. 2e civ., 11 April 2019, LawLex202300012397JBJ.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

282. Acts of judicial commissioners

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282. Acts of judicial commissioners

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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