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

Any interference with the work of judicial commissioners may be prejudicial to the entire judicial system and undermine the effectiveness of justice. A number of criminal provisions protect judicial commissioners against threats and acts of intimidation.

Article 433-3 of the Criminal Code punishes with three years of imprisonment and a fine of EUR 45,000 EUR the threat to commit a crime or offense against a public or ministerial officer. The same text also sanctions (last paragraph) with ten years of imprisonment and a fine of EUR 150,000 the act of using threats, violence, or committing any other act of intimidation to obtain from a judicial commissioner that they perform or refrain from performing an act of their function, mission, or mandate, or facilitated by their function, mission, or mandate. The offense was constituted, in particular, when eleven people sent letter of intimidation to a judicial commissioner, then organized a demonstration in the courtyard of their office during which they set off firecrackers and set alight boxes to dissuade them from continuing the forced recovery, notably through seizures, of social contributions they refuse to pay, as well as fines imposed by the social security court (tribunal des affaires de sécurité sociale) . The same applies when the chairperson of a union, accompanied by about twenty people, invades the offices of a judicial commissioner to obtain the release of the seizure they have executed on the bank account of a couple of members . Also constitutes, even in the absence of violence, an act of intimidation, the concerted action of several people, likely to prevent the judicial commissioner from performing, without the assistance of law enforcement, an act of their function .

Furthermore, the offense of contempt, punishable by a fine of EUR 7,500, penalizes words, gestures, or threats, writings or images of any kind not made public, or the sending of any objects addressed to a person entrusted with a public service mission, in the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of their mission, and likely to undermine their dignity or the respect due to the function they hold . This offense includes sending a letter to the judicial commissioner calling them a “vulture” and questioning their decency, integrity, and intellectual honesty, not in a private capacity, but within the scope of their professional activity .

The offense of rébellion which consists of violently resisting a person holding public authority or charged with a public service mission acting, in the exercise of their duties, for the enforcement of laws, orders of public authority, decisions, or judicial mandates, is punishable by two years of imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros . The offense is constituted when the resistance opposed to the judicial commissioner is accompanied by violence that, without physically affecting their person, is likely to strongly intimidate them . A merchant is also guilty of the offense of rébellion if, during a seizure procedure, they refuse to sign the seizure document and violently prevent the judicial commissioner from leaving by grabbing their wrists and blocking the door, as the commissioner's mission only ends with their departure from the store .

Finally, pursuant to Article 222-13 of the Criminal Code, violence resulting in a work incapacity of eight days or less, or resulting in no work incapacity, is punishable by three years' imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 EUR when committed against a public or ministerial officer, in the exercise of or due to their functions, and when the victim's status is apparent or known to the perpetrator. The offense is constituted, in particular, when during the intervention of a judicial commissioner in the context of enforcement proceedings, the debtor grabs the ministerial officer by the collar of their clothing, attempts to slap them, and then insults them .

The status of a judicial commissioner constitutes an aggravating circumstance for criminal offenses, particularly when they are the victim of murder , poisoning , or violence resulting in death without intent to kill .

The damage for which compensation is sought under any of these offenses in the context of civil action must be direct. The civil party status of a regional chamber of judicial commissioners is inadmissible since no legal provision authorizes it to seek compensation for indirect damage caused to the collective interest of the profession .

Cass. crim., 25 June 1997, LawLex202300004101JBJ.

Cass. crim., 16 December 1998, LawLex202300004104JBJ.

Cass. crim., 14 November 1996, LawLex202300004093JBJ; 26 April 2000, LawLex202300004103JBJ.

Cass. crim., 18 May 1999, LawLex202300004102JBJ.

Cass. crim., 26 April 2000, LawLex202300004103JBJ. - Also see Cass. crim., 21 May 1997, LawLex202200010766JBJ, sanctioning the sending of an insulting letter containing particularly vulgar terms.

Cass. crim., 15 March 1972, LawLex202300003299JBJ.

Cass. crim., 20 March 1991, LawLex202300004100JBJ.

Cass. crim., 28 April 1997, LawLex202300004098JBJ.

53. Criminal sanctions