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

For an investigative measure to be ordered before any trial, it must result from a legitimate reason, the assessment of which falls within the sovereign power of the trial courts . The court cannot merely note the existence of a legitimate reason . It must weigh the interests at stake , particularly by considering the existence of business or professional secrets , even if they do not themselves c …

Existence of legitimate grounds prior to any proceedings

For an investigative measure to be ordered before any trial, it must result from a legitimate reason, the assessment of which falls within the sovereign power of the trial courts . The court cannot merely note the existence of a legitimate reason . It must weigh the interests at stake , particularly by considering the existence of business or professional secrets , even if they do not themselves constitute an obstacle to the implementation of Article 145 of the Code of Civil Procedure . The applicant must demonstrate the existence of a legitimate interest. Thus, they cannot proceed by mere assertions and must support their application with any objective elements demonstrating the likelihood of the facts they allege . However, it is not required for the applicant to establish the merits of the action for which the investigative measure is sought . It suffices for the court to note the conflict between the parties . In any case, the existence of a potential dispute is not a condition for the admissibility of the application but for its success .

The measure must be requested before any proceedings. This is not the case when the court has exhausted its jurisdiction by dismissing the applicants' request for prohibition and ordering the requested investigative measure  or when, at the date the measure is pronounced, the trial court has already been seized of the proceedings for which the measure was requested . Indeed, the trial court must not have already been seized at the date the court rules . However, the existence of proceedings contesting the applicant's status as a shareholder does not, as long as a final decision has not been made on this challenge, deprive the applicant of their legitimate interest in requesting, in their capacity as a shareholder, an investigative measure aimed at establishing proof of facts on which the resolution of a dispute may depend . When the requested measure concerns a dispute distinct from that between the parties, the application for an in futurum expert assessment is also admissible . The existence of a settlement does not deprive such a request of interest either .

Cass. com., 17 March 1987, LawLex202300004174JBJ; 5 January 1988, LawLex202300002296JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 7 January 1999, LawLex200500009929JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 13 February 2003, LawLex202300002715JBJ; Cass. com., 29 January 2008, LawLex202300003575JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 29 September 2011, LawLex202300003464JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 10 December 2020, LawLex202300002294JBJ.

Cass. com., 18 October 1988, LawLex202300002300JBJ.

Cass. com., 15 November 1983, LawLex202300002040JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 15 January 2004, LawLex202300002100JBJ.

Cass. com., 17 March 2009, LawLex202300001931JBJ.

Cass. com., 16 April 1991, LawLex202300004111JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 6 May 1998, LawLex202300002293JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 14 November 2013, LawLex202300002436JBJ; Cass. com., 5 November 1985, LawLex202300002297JBJ.

Cass. com., 5 January 1988, LawLex202300002296JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 14 March 1984, LawLex202300002368JBJ.

Cass. 1re civ., 3 November 2016, LawLex202300002114JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 7 January 1999, LawLex200500009929JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 12 July 2012, LawLex202300002279JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 4 November 2021, LawLex202300002031JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 24 February 1999, LawLex202300002281JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 8 April 2010, LawLex202300002883JBJ; Cass. com., 16 October 2019, LawLex202300003465JBJ.

Cass. 2e civ., 15 June 1994, LawLex202300002716JBJ.

1. Ordinary Law of Civil Procedure

124. Existence of legitimate grounds prior to any proceedings

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

124. Existence of legitimate grounds prior to any proceedings

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise