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

First, Article 913, paragraph 1, of the Code of Civil Procedure, in its version resulting from Decree No 2023-1391 of 29 December 2023, assigns the pre-trial judge the task of ensuring the fair conduct of proceedings, particularly the timeliness of the exchange of submissions and the disclosure of exhibits. To this end, he may order the parties to meet with a mediator, in accordance with Article 1 …

Extent of powers

First, Article 913, paragraph 1, of the Code of Civil Procedure, in its version resulting from Decree No 2023-1391 of 29 December 2023, assigns the pre-trial judge the task of ensuring the fair conduct of proceedings, particularly the timeliness of the exchange of submissions and the disclosure of exhibits. To this end, he may order the parties to meet with a mediator, in accordance with Article 127-1, or order mediation under the conditions of Article 131-1 (Art. 913, para. 2, CPC). At the conclusion of the mediation, conciliation, or participatory procedure, he approves, at the parties' request, the settlement or agreement they submit to him (Art. 913, para. 3, CPC). Furthermore, he may order the parties' lawyers to bring their submissions into compliance with the provisions of Articles 954 and 961 governing appeal submissions and may invite them to respond to arguments they have not addressed and to provide the necessary factual and legal explanations for resolving the dispute (Art. 913-1, para. 1, CPC) .

Then, Article 913-1, paragraph 2, as amended by Decree No 2023-1391 of 29 December 2023, grants the pre-trial judge all necessary powers for the disclosure, obtaining, and production of exhibits. He may, on the one hand, request the original of the exhibits submitted in the proceedings or ask for their delivery in copy (Art. 913-1, para. 3, Code of Civil Procedure) and, on the other hand, make any useful communications to the parties' lawyers and, if necessary, issue them with orders (Art. 913-1, para. 4, Code of Civil Procedure).

Furthermore, under the new Article 913-2, stemming from Decree No 2023-1391, it “may at any time hear the parties' lawyers” (para. 1). Thus, it may, at the request of a party or ex officio, proceed with the hearing of the parties, which takes place adversarially unless one of them, duly summoned, does not appear. In all cases, it takes place in the presence of the parties' lawyers or with them duly called (para. 2). Moreover, “it may, when the development of the dispute justifies it, invite the parties to involve all interested parties whose presence seems necessary for the resolution of the dispute” (Article 913-2, para. 3, Code of Civil Procedure).

Pursuant to the new Article 913-3, it proceeds with the joinder and severance of proceedings (para. 1), it may order the removal from the docket under the cases and conditions of Articles 382 and 383 (para. 2), and it may rule on costs and applications made under Article 700 (para. 3).

The new Article 913-5 also lists a number of responsibilities for which the pre-trial judge is, from the time of their appointment until their discharge, solely competent:

- declare the lapse of the notice of appeal (1°) ;

- declare the appeal inadmissible and on that occasion decide any question relating to the admissibility of the appeal , the grounds for inadmissibility of the appeal must be raised simultaneously on pain of inadmissibility of those not raised (2°) ;

- declare the submissions inadmissible pursuant to Articles 909 and 910 (3°) ;

- declare the procedural documents inadmissible pursuant to Article 930-1 (4);

- rule on procedural objections related to the appeal procedure , applications made pursuant to Article 47, the admissibility of interventions on appeal, and incidents terminating the appeal proceedings (5°);

- allocate an advance for the proceedings (6°);

- grant an advance to the creditor when the existence of the obligation is not seriously disputable, the pre-trial judge may condition the execution of their decision on the provision of a guarantee under the conditions set out in Articles 514-5, 517, and 518 to 522 (7°);

- order any other interim measures, even protective ones, except for protective seizures and provisional mortgages and pledges, as well as modify or supplement, in the event of a new development, the measures that have already been ordered (8°);

- order, even ex officio, any investigative measure and oversee the execution of the investigative measures it orders, as well as those ordered by the court, subject to the provisions of the third paragraph of Article 155, the proceedings continuing at the diligence of the pre-trial judge upon the execution of the ordered investigative measure (9°);

- in cases where provisional enforcement is not a right, suspend the enforcement of judgments improperly classified as final and exercise the powers conferred upon it regarding provisional enforcement (10°).

In all cases, the new Article 913-4, para. 1, establishes the rule that the measures taken by the pre-trial judge are not subject to appeal and are recorded in the file, with notice given to the instructed counsel. However, para. 2 mitigates the strictness of this rule by stating that “in the cases provided for in the second paragraph of Article 913-1, the third paragraph of Article 913-3, and Article 913-5, the pre-trial judge rules by reasoned order subject to the specific rules for investigative measures. This order is subject to appeal under the conditions provided for in Article 913-8.” In other words, the pre-trial judge rules by reasoned order, subject to the specific rules for investigative measures, which is subject to appeal when he:

- orders the parties to meet with a mediator, in accordance with Article 127-1, or orders mediation under the conditions of Article 131-1 (Art. 913-1, para. 2, CPC);

- rules on costs and applications made pursuant to Article 700;

- declares the lapse of the notice of appeal (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 1°, Code of Civil Procedure);

- declares the appeal inadmissible and on this occasion decides any question relating to the admissibility of the appeal (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 2°, CPC);

- declares the submissions inadmissible pursuant to Articles 909 and 910 (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 3°, CPC);

- declares the procedural documents inadmissible pursuant to Article 930-1 (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 4°, CPC);

- rules on procedural objections related to the appeal procedure, applications made pursuant to Article 47, the admissibility of interventions on appeal, and incidents terminating the appeal proceedings (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 5°, CPC);

- allocates an advance for the proceedings (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 6°, Code of Civil Procedure);

- grants an advance to the creditor when the existence of the obligation is not seriously contestable (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 7°, CPC);

- orders all other interim measures, even protective ones, except for protective seizures and provisional mortgages and pledges, and modifies or supplements, in the event of a new fact, the measures that may have already been ordered (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 8°, CPC);

- orders, even ex officio, any investigative measure (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 9°, CPC);

- suspends the enforcement of judgments improperly classified as final and exercises the powers conferred upon it regarding provisional enforcement (Art. 913-5, para. 1, 10°, CPC).

In fine, Article 913-5, para. 2, states that “in the cases provided for in this Article and in the fourth paragraph of Article 911, the pre-trial judge is seized by submissions specifically addressed to him, distinct from the submissions addressed to the court.”

Cass. 2e civ., 3 July 2025, LawLex202500006497JBJ, which specifies that it does not have the power to compel the parties, under penalty of removal, to limit the number of pages of their submissions, as this would be likely to hinder the exercise of the right of appeal.

Cass. 2e civ., 26 June 2014, LawLex202300002698JBJ: the pre-trial judge has the power to ex officio declare the lapse of the notice of appeal in case of non-compliance with the provisions of Article 902 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Cass. com., 14 May 2008, LawLex202400000877JBJ: pursuant to Article 911 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which does not distinguish whether the remedy sought is for amendment, annulment, or invalidity of the judgment—provisions that have been incorporated into Article 913-5—the pre-trial judge is competent to declare the appeal inadmissible and, on that occasion, to decide any question relating to the admissibility of the appeal, and, therefore, to assess the admissibility of the appeal for invalidity.

Cass. 2e civ., 10 December 2020, LawLex202400000879JBJ: It follows from Articles 74 and 914 of the Code of Civil Procedure that objections of invalidity of procedural documents must be raised before any defense on the merits, in submissions specifically addressed to the pre-trial judge, who alone is competent to rule on the inadmissibility of the appeal and to decide on this occasion any question relating to the admissibility of the appeal.

Cass. 3e civ., 7 September 2017, LawLex202400009770JBJ, holds that the pre-trial judge, who is competent to rule on the inadmissibility of submissions until the opening of proceedings, cannot rule on the request for inadmissibility of submissions made in submissions that also include arguments and claims on the merits, addressed to the Court of Appeal; Cass. 3e civ., 24 September 2014, LawLex202400009775JBJ, on the exclusive competence of the pre-trial judge.

On the other hand, the pre-trial judge, whose duties concern only procedural objections and incidents related to the appeal proceedings, is not competent to rule on a procedural objection related to the first instance, Cass. opinion, 2 April 2007, LawLex202400000876JBJ; Cass. 2e civ., 3 June 2021, LawLex202400000793JBJ: the pre-trial judge cannot address bars to proceedings that have been decided by the pre-trial judge or by the court, nor those which, although not decided in the first instance, would, if upheld, call into question what was judged on the merits by the first judge; 11 October 2022, LawLex202400000794JBJ, noting that while the Court of Appeal is competent to rule on bars to proceedings related to the appeal, those concerning the appeal procedure fall under the jurisdiction of the pre-trial judge, so that regarding the examination of bars to proceedings set out in Articles 564 and 910-4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, concerning the first, the prohibition of submitting new claims on appeal, and for the second, the obligation to present all claims on the merits in the initial submissions related to the appeal and not the appeal procedure, only the Court of Appeal is competent to address them.

3. Proceedings before the Court of Appeal

19. Extent of powers

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

19. Extent of powers

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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