FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyum Lee, Florian Dessault, Hannah Cobbett and Claire Gonzalez, BDGS Associés
2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law
1.4 National Courts French law provides for a supporting judge whose role is to facilitate the proper conduct of arbitral pro - ceedings and resolve certain procedural difficulties, notably those relating to the constitution of the arbi - tral tribunal. In international arbitration, the supporting judge is, unless otherwise provided, the President of the Paris Judicial Court in the circumstances listed in Article 1505 of the French Civil Procedure Code. The international commercial chambers of the Paris Commercial Court and the Paris Court of Appeal, created in 2018, specialise in international business disputes. Their procedural protocols allow the par - ties, counsel, witnesses and experts to use English at hearings and permit documentary evidence in Eng - lish without translation. The proceedings remain gov - erned by French procedural law, and procedural acts and judgments remain in French, although an English translation of the judgment may be made available. Furthermore, Article 25 of Law No 2024-537 of 13 June 2024 introduced Article L311-16-1 of the French Judi - cial Organisation Code, in force since 1 June 2025. It gives the Paris Court of Appeal national jurisdiction over set-aside applications concerning international awards rendered in France and appeals against deci - sions on the recognition or exequatur of international awards. Article 1519 of the French Civil Procedure Code was amended accordingly with effect from 1 September 2025. With effect from 1 January 2027, Decree No 2026-741 of 6 August 2026 will introduce specific procedural rules for international arbitration proceedings before the Court of Appeal through new Articles 1527-1 to 1527-5 of the French Civil Procedure Code. In particu - lar, Article 1527-3 will allow parties to file documents in foreign languages without translation unless the court orders otherwise. Article 1527-4 will permit par - ties, witnesses, experts and counsel to be authorised to speak a foreign language before the Court, where necessary with the assistance of an interpreter. The Court of Appeal will also be able to adapt the reason - ing and publication of its decisions to take account of the confidentiality requirements of the arbitration at the request of the parties or any of them, pursuant to Article 1527-5.
French arbitration law is mainly codified in Articles 1442 to 1527 of the French Civil Procedure Code and Articles 2059 to 2061 of the French Civil Code. The French Civil Procedure Code distinguishes between international arbitration (Articles 1504 to 1527 of the French Civil Procedure Code) and domestic arbitra - tion (Articles 1442 to 1503 of the French Civil Pro - cedure Code; see also Articles 2059 to 2061 of the French Civil Code). Certain provisions of the French Civil Procedure Code governing domestic arbitration also apply to international arbitration, unless other - wise agreed by the parties (Article 1506 of the French Civil Procedure Code). Arbitration is international when it concerns interests of international trade (Article 1504 of the French Civil Procedure Code). An arbitration is therefore deemed international when the underlying economic transac - tion is not economically confined to a single country, irrespective of the parties’ nationality, the applicable law or the seat of arbitration ( Cour de cassation , First Civil Chamber, 26 January 2011, No 09-10.198; Paris Court of Appeal, 7 February 2023, No 20/08604; Paris Court of Appeal, 10 July 2025, No 24/16717). With effect from 1 January 2027, Decree No 2026-741 of 6 August 2026 will amend Article 1504 of the French Civil Procedure Code by replacing the reference to “interests of international trade” with “international economic interests”. The practical scope of this new wording will need to be clarified by future case law. French courts – in particular the Cour de cassation and the Paris Court of Appeal – also play a key role in interpreting French arbitration law. French arbitration law is not based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. It largely predates the UNCITRAL Model Law and differs from it in several respects, including as follows. • The criteria for determining whether an arbitration is international: while Article 1 (3) of the UNCITRAL Model Law adopts an approach based on the parties’ places of business or certain connecting
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