Introduction

Existence of a claim

Issuance of enforcement order (writs of execution)

Existence of seizable assets or claims

Conditions of enforcement

Judicial authority

Other authorities

Competent authorities and persons

Operations

Difficulties in enforcement

Implementation of compulsory enforcement

General regime of enforcement procedures

Concept of penalty

Scope ratione personae

Material scope

Determination of penalty

Competence of judge

Powers of court

Effects of ruling ordering or rejecting penalty

Pronouncement of penalty

Substantive conditions

Procedural conditions

Role and powers of the judge

Effects of liquidation judgment

Liquidation of the penalty

Penalty

Conditions of implementation

Contesting the measures

Ordinary law on protective measures

Protective seizures

Judicial security interests (sûretés judiciaires)

Specific regimes

Interim protective measures (mesures conservatoires)

Seizure of claims for sums of money

Seizure of tangible movable property

Seizure of intangible rights

Enforcement measures on movable property

Real estate seizures

Evictions

Enforcement measures on real estate

Enforcement measures

5. Civil Enforcement Procedures

In order to facilitate the recovery of the claim and to ascertain the exact extent of the debtor's assets, government administrations, regions, departments, and municipalities, companies granted concessions or controlled by the State, regions, public establishments, or organizations controlled by the administrative authority, must disclose to the judicial commissioner responsible for enforcement t …

Judicial commissioner’s investigation of debtor’s assets through third parties

In order to facilitate the recovery of the claim and to ascertain the exact extent of the debtor's assets, government administrations, regions, departments, and municipalities, companies granted concessions or controlled by the State, regions, public establishments, or organizations controlled by the administrative authority, must disclose to the judicial commissioner responsible for enforcement the information they hold that allows the determination of the debtor's address, identity, address of their employer or any third-party debtor or holder of liquid or payable sums, and the composition of their real estate assets, excluding any other information, without being able to enforce professional secrecy . Furthermore, institutions authorized by law to hold deposit accounts must indicate to the commissioner responsible for enforcement whether one or more accounts, joint or merged accounts, are opened in the debtor's name and the locations where the accounts are held, excluding any other information, without being able to enforce professional secrecy .

Such information gathering was initially provided for by Articles 39 to 41 of Law 91-650 of 9 July 1991 , which established a general framework for the information gathering procedures that was relatively restrictive, as it required each request to pass through the Public Prosecutor . Aware of these difficulties, a law of 11 February 2004  granted judicial commissioners direct access to the national bank account file (Fichier national des comptes bancaires et assimilés -FICOBA). Maintained by the financial administration, this file lists all bank accounts opened in France. Subsequently, a law of 22 December 2010  further facilitated access to information, allowing the judicial commissioner to obtain information not only from the tax administration services but more broadly from public administrations, and ended the involvement of the public prosecutor. The judicial commissioner now has direct access to the debtor's personal information. To facilitate the rapid execution of the claim, a decree of 30 May 2012  removed from Article R. 152-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures the mention “holder of a writ of execution,” which required the commissioner to approach public administrations with a request containing the statement of the writ of execution, whereas their status as a public officer presupposes that they already possess such a writ. Then, a law of 16 February 2015  did the same for Article L. 152-1. Despite these advances, the judicial commissioner still could not conduct information searches in the FICOBA files when only in possession of an order authorizing a protective seizure, as they did not yet have a writ of execution. Indeed, the Court of Cassation had considered that the order authorizing a protective seizure did not constitute a writ of execution establishing a liquid and payable claim allowing consultation of the FICOBA file to obtain the list of accounts held by a debtor company . The Court of Cassation's solution seemed very strict and prevented the judicial commissioner from obtaining valuable information to recover the debt. Therefore, the legislator, with Law 2021-1729 of 22 December 2021,  again amended Article L. 152-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures to allow the judicial commissioner to obtain information in the FICOBA files not only when in possession of a writ of execution , but also when executing an order authorizing a protective seizure on a bank account.

The absence of diligence in obtaining the debtor's address using the tools provided by Article L. 152-1 cannot be enforced against the judicial commissioner when serving a document . Indeed, this text only applies when they are tasked with the enforcement of a writ of execution . Therefore, a judicial commissioner cannot, at the stage of a writ of summons, obtain information about the debtor from the authorities and organizations referred to in Article L. 152-1 .

CPC exec. Art. L. 152-1; LPF, Art. L. 151 A, I.

CA Caen, 8 June 2022, LawLex202300004806JBJ.

CA Rennes, 3 December 2021, LawLex202300006022JBJ. Cf. Lyon, 8 June 2023, LawLex202300009017JBJ, considering that the service of a judgment constitutes the first act of any enforcement proceedings, the judicial commissioner responsible for this service may validly obtain the debtor's address from the tax administration, based on Article L. 152-1 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures; Toulouse, 22 December 2016, LawLex202300005696JBJ, considering that a judicial commissioner responsible for the service of the orientation judgment, which is part of the flow of enforcement actions of a writ of execution, is required to query all administrations, including the tax services involved in the same case, to obtain the address of the seized debtor.

CA Paris, 9 February 2023, LawLex202300005228JBJ; CA Caen, 11 January 2023, LawLex202300004807JBJ; CA Angers, 22 November 2022, LawLex202300004802JBJ; CA Aix-en-Provence, 17 November 2022, LawLex202300004801JBJ.

CA Colmar, 24 October 2022, LawLex202300004810JBJ.

Law No 91-650 of 9 July 1991 on the reform of civil enforcement procedures. 

Cf. the opinion of the Court of Cassation rendered under the former text, Cass. civ., 8 December 1995, LawLex202300000532JBJ.

Law 2004-130 of 11 February 2004 reforming the status of certain judicial or legal professions, judicial experts, industrial property consultants, and public auction experts.

Law No 2010-1609 of 22 December 2010 on the enforcement of court rulings , the conditions for practicing certain regulated professions, and judicial experts.

Decree No 2012-783 of 30 May 2012 relating to the regulatory part of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures.

Law No 2015-177 of 16 February 2015 on the simplification of the law.

Cass. 2e civ., 16 March 2017, LawLex202200010419JBJ, censuring on this point CA Dijon, 17 November 2015, LawLex202300006025JBJ; 12 January 2023, LawLex202300004813JBJ, for an application of Articles L. 152-2 of the Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures and Article L. 151 A of the Book of Tax Procedures, in their wording prior to Law No 2021-1729 of 22 December 2021. See also CA Paris, 18 November 2021, LawLex202300006034JBJ; CA Colmar, 13 April 2015, LawLex202300005697JBJ.

Law No 2021-1729 of 22 December 2021 for confidence in the judicial institution.

5. Civil Enforcement Procedures

56. Judicial commissioner’s investigation of debtor’s assets through third parties

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56. Judicial commissioner’s investigation of debtor’s assets through third parties

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