Introduction

Proceedings with mandatory representation

Proceedings without mandatory representation

Contentious matters

Scope

Proceedings

Non-contentious matters

Proceedings before full bench

Interim orders

Orders on ex parte application (sur requête)

Powers of the First president

3. Proceedings before the Court of Appeal

The exchange of submissions is governed within the Code of Civil Procedure by Articles 908 to 912, as amended by Decree No 2023-1391 of 29 December 2023 on the simplification of appeal procedures in civil matters, applicable from 1 September 2024.
The filing of submissions with the court registry must be done within a three-month period, common to all parties, but with a starting point that varies …

Filing and exchange of submissions

The exchange of submissions is governed within the Code of Civil Procedure by Articles 908 to 912, as amended by Decree No 2023-1391 of 29 December 2023 on the simplification of appeal procedures in civil matters, applicable from 1 September 2024.

The filing of submissions with the court registry must be done within a three-month period, common to all parties, but with a starting point that varies for each. Thus, according to Article 908 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as reiterated by Decree No 2023-1391, the appellant has a three-month period from the notice of appeal to file their submissions with the court registry, under penalty of the lapse of the notice of appeal, noted ex officio . For the respondent, under penalty of inadmissibility noted ex officio, the starting point of the three-month period is set at the notification of the appellant's submissions as provided in Article 908 to file their submissions with the court registry and, if applicable, to file a cross-appeal or provoked appeal (Art. 909 CPC)  or upon notification of the cross-appeal or provoked appeal (Art. 910, para. 1, CPC) . For the party compelled to intervene in the appeal proceedings, the three-month period starts, under penalty of inadmissibility noted ex officio, from the date the intervention application against them is notified to file their submissions with the court registry, and for the voluntary intervenor, from the date of their voluntary intervention (Art. 910, para. 2, CPC).

Article 911, para. 1, adds that, under the penalties provided for in Articles 908 to 910, the submissions are notified to the parties' lawyers within the time limit for their filing with the court registry and are served on the parties who have not instructed counsel no later than one month following the expiration of the time limits provided for in these articles, unless they instruct counsel before the service of the submissions, in which case the service will be by notification to their lawyer .

Decree No 2023-1391 of 29 December 2023 grants, in Article 911, new powers to the pre-trial judge regarding the exchange of submissions. Firstly, the judge may, at the request of a party or ex officio, extend or shorten the time limits provided for in Articles 908 to 910, this decision, noted in the file, constituting a judicial administration measure (Art. 911, para. 2, Code of Civil Procedure). Secondly, the judge issues an order, which cannot be reversed, declaring the lapse of the notice of appeal pursuant to Articles 902 and 908 or the inadmissibility of submissions pursuant to Articles 909 and 910, after requesting written observations from the parties (Art. 911, para. 3, Code of Civil Procedure) . Finally, the judge may waive the application of the sanctions provided for in Articles 908 to 910 and in Article 911, paragraph 1, at the request of a party, in cases of force majeure, constituted by a circumstance not attributable to the party and which is insurmountable for them (Art. 911, para. 4, Code of Civil Procedure) . This is not the case for the lawyer's illness, as there is no evidence to suggest that when handling the files of their personal clients, the lawyer does not receive any support from the law firm in which they work, consisting of about thirty people, including a team of which they are a part, and it follows that a member of this team is able to substitute for them in case of impediment and follow their instructions .

Article 912, para. 1, as amended by Decree No 2023-1391, provides that the time limit available to the pre-trial judge to examine the case is now one month following the expiration of the deadlines for filing submissions and disclosing exhibits, compared to fifteen days under the previous text. While Article 912, para. 2, in its new version, partially retains the text from Decree No 2017-891 of 6 May 2017, by providing that the pre-trial judge sets the date for the closure and the pleadings, it specifies that if the case requires further exchanges of submissions, it is without prejudice to the second and third paragraphs of Article 915-2 that the schedule is set, after consulting the lawyers. A new para. 3 specifies that “the deadlines set in the pre-trial schedule can only be extended in the event of a serious and duly justified cause.” Finally, “if the parties fail to perform the procedural acts incumbent upon them within the deadlines set by this schedule, the pre-trial judge may, ex officio, after notifying their lawyer, issue a reasoned order for removal from the register that is not subject to appeal” (Art. 912, para. 4, CPC) . A copy of this order is sent to each party by ordinary mail to their actual domicile or residence (Art. 912, para. 5, CPC).

Cass. 2e civ., 5 June 2014, LawLex202400000689JBJ: the lapse of the notice of appeal is incurred if the appellant fails to file their submissions within the three-month period from the act of appeal; 3 December 2015, LawLex202400000690JBJ: when, in accordance with Article R. 661-6, 3° of the Commercial Code, the president of the chamber seised decides that the case will be investigated under the control of a judge of the chamber under the conditions provided for in Articles 763 to 787 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the provisions of Article 908 of the same code do not apply; 9 June 2022, LawLex202400000691JBJ: the removal of the appeal proceedings, even for non-execution of the judgment under appeal, does not result in the suspension of the time limit granted to the appellant to submit.

Cass. 2e civ., 4 December 2014, LawLex202400003472JBJ: the respondent, who, although the appellant has duly served him with the notice of appeal and submissions, thus triggering the time limit under Article 909 of the Code of Civil Procedure to submit and possibly file a cross-appeal, which the company refrained from doing, is no longer admissible to exercise this remedy; 7 April 2016, LawLex202400000693JBJ, holding that the expiration of the time limit to file a cross-appeal prevents the respondent from filing a principal appeal against the judgment, even if it has not been served on him; 16 December 2021, LawLex202400000634JBJ, specifying that the respondent, whose submissions have been declared inadmissible under Article 909 of the Code of Civil Procedure, is not deprived of the right to oppose the judge's decision to rule without a hearing.

Cass. 2e civ., 21 January 2016, LawLex202400000695JBJ, specifying that the time limit set by Article 909 of the Code of Civil Procedure for the respondent to file submissions runs from the date of the electronic acknowledgment of receipt of the notification of the appellant's submissions via the lawyers' private virtual network.

Cass. 2e civ., 27 February 2021, LawLex202400000710JBJ, specifying that the subsequent instruction by the respondent of the lawyer who had received the appellant's submissions does not remedy the irregularity constituted by the notification of submissions to a lawyer who had not been previously instructed in the appeal proceedings; 25 March 2021, LawLex202400000709JBJ: the notification of the respondent's instruction of counsel to the appellant, pursuant to Article 960 of the Code of Civil Procedure, aims to make this instruction enforceable against him, so that when this notification has not been properly made, the appellant fulfills the obligation to notify his submissions to the respondent by serving his submissions on him or by notifying them to the lawyer he has instructed.

Cass. 2e civ., 26 October 2023, LawLex202400000795JBJ.

Pursuant to Article 910-3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, in cases of force majeure, defined as a circumstance not attributable to the party and which is insurmountable for them, the president of the chamber or the pre-trial judge may set aside the application of the sanctions provided for in Articles 905-2 and 908 to 911 of the same code, Cass. 2e civ., 25 March 2021, LawLex202400000649JBJ, adding that the failure to submit conclusions within the three-month period due to waiting for an expert report from an external firm, when the response was possible without including this report not yet submitted in the schedule annexed to its conclusions, which could have been attached to its final conclusions as long as the report was communicated in time for the opponent to respond, cannot be considered a circumstance of force majeure, within the meaning of Article 910-3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Cass. 2e civ., 2 December 2021, LawLex202400000792JBJ: the party invoking force majeure preventing them from concluding within the time limit of Article 908 of the Code of Civil Procedure must demonstrate that the effects of the lapse could not have been avoided by appropriate measures.

Cass. 2e civ., 7 March 2024, LawLex202400002087JBJ: once the parties have fulfilled all procedural obligations incumbent upon them, peremption no longer runs against them, unless the pre-trial judge sets a schedule or orders them to perform a specific diligence.

3. Proceedings before the Court of Appeal

17. Filing and exchange of submissions

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

17. Filing and exchange of submissions

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise