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

Articles 11 and 138 of the Code of Civil Procedure allow a party wishing to rely on a document held by a third party to request the court hearing the case to order the issuance of a copy or the production of the document or item. The measure requested must aim to safeguard a legally recognized or judicially established right . It must not allow a party who has failed to produce a document to turn  …

Third party to the proceedings

Articles 11 and 138 of the Code of Civil Procedure allow a party wishing to rely on a document held by a third party to request the court hearing the case to order the issuance of a copy or the production of the document or item. The measure requested must aim to safeguard a legally recognized or judicially established right . It must not allow a party who has failed to produce a document to turn their own omission into a grievance . The court's decision is provisionally enforceable, on the original if necessary (Art. 140 CPC).

The third party involved may be a natural or legal person. In the latter case, it may be a private or public institution .

Cass. 1re civ., 6 November 1990, LawLex202300001276JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 11 January 2005, LawLex202300002795JBJ.

See for an illustration, Art. L. 143 LPF (Book of Tax Procedures), specifying that the courts of the judicial or administrative order before which an action has been brought seeking a monetary judgment may order the tax administration and the parties to the proceedings to disclose, for submission in the proceedings, all fiscal documents whose production is useful for resolving the dispute; Cass. 1re civ., 21 July 1987, LawLex202300001282JBJ, concerning the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

In case of difficulty, or if any legitimate impediment is invoked, the judge who ordered the delivery or production of the documents may, upon an informal request made to them, retract or modify their decision. The third party may appeal the new decision within fifteen days of its pronouncement (Art. 141 CPC).

The court's power to order the production of a document held by a third party is limited only by the existence of a legitimate reason, either related to the respect for private life, unless the measure is necessary to protect the rights and freedoms of others, or related to professional secrecy . Therefore, a third party cannot be compelled to produce in court documents related to facts they became aware of in the course of their duties and which pertain to the private life of one of the parties . Regarding professional secrecy, which binds various categories of professionals, including lawyers, notaries, doctors, pharmacists, banking institutions, etc.; the Court of Cassation holds that the right to evidence derived from Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights cannot override the inviolability of professional secrecy . Therefore, professional secrecy constitutes a legitimate impediment enforceable against the court .

Finally, in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 10 of the Civil Code, anyone who, without legitimate reason, evades the obligation to assist justice in the pursuit of truth when legally required to do so, may be compelled to comply, if necessary under penalty of a penalty payment or civil fine, without prejudice to damages.

Cass. 1re civ., 21 July 1987, LawLex202300001282JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 29 March 1989, LawLex202300001295JBJ, concerning an archbishop who had become aware of the exhibits in question due to the trust that had been placed in him.

Cass. 1re civ., 4 June 2014, LawLex202200007621JBJ, regarding a notary, specifying that the latter is released from professional secrecy only by law, either when it imposes or authorizes the disclosure of the secret.

Cass. com., 13 June 1995, LawLex202200005555JBJ, concerning a credit institution; Cass. 1re civ., 7 December 2004, LawLex202200005468JBJ, concerning a healthcare institution; contra, Cass. 1re civ., 31 May 1988, LawLex202300002433JBJ, holding that a CPAM (primary health insurance fund) does not justify a legitimate impediment to refuse the production of requested documents since these, constituting a summary statistic, do not disclose the identity or illness of patients and do not reveal the financial position of the treating physician, as they correspond only to part of the physician's area of activity and are limited to a period of ten months.

Legitimate impediment of the third party

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

119. Third party to the proceedings

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

119. Third party to the proceedings

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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