FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Kyum Lee, Florian Dessault, Hannah Cobbett and Claire Gonzalez, BDGS Associés
International Arbitration were revised and approved by the IBA Council in May 2024. A party that becomes aware of a potentially disqualify - ing circumstance during the arbitration must raise it in due time. Failure to do so may constitute a waiver under Article 1466 of the French Civil Procedure Code (Paris Court of Appeal, 20 May 2025, No 24/08190), including where the relevant circumstance arose or became known after the tribunal was constituted ( Cour de cassation , First Civil Chamber, 11 February 2026, No 24-13.744). Like most national legal systems, French law recog - nises the principle of competence-competence in both domestic and international arbitration, which is deemed to have both a positive and a negative effect. Positively, the principle allows the arbitral tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction (Article 1465 of the French Civil Procedure Code, applicable to international arbi - tration unless otherwise agreed by the parties). This principle is widely recognised by the French courts. The negative effect requires a state court seised of a dispute covered by an arbitration agreement to decline jurisdiction unless the arbitral tribunal has not yet been seised and the agreement is manifestly void or manifestly inapplicable (Article 1448 (1) of the French Civil Procedure Code). The threshold is delib - erately narrow, and the rule applies irrespective of the seat of arbitration. However, a state court may not decline jurisdiction of its own motion (Article 1448, paragraph 2 of the French Civil Procedure Code, applicable to interna - tional arbitration unless otherwise agreed by the par - ties). One of the parties must raise the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal. 5. Jurisdiction 5.1 Challenges to Jurisdiction Article 1448 will be amended in two respects by Decree No 2026-741 of 6 August 2026. First, whether the arbitral tribunal has already been seised will be assessed at the date on which the state court itself is
seised. Second, the parties may depart from the nega - tive effect of the principle of competence-competence by an express and unequivocal stipulation. It should also be noted that Brussels I bis Regula - tion No 1215/2012 on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters does not apply to arbitration. 5.2 Circumstances for Court Intervention In accordance with the principle of competence-com - petence, French courts give priority to the arbitral tri - bunal to rule on its own jurisdiction (see 5.3 Timing of Challenge ). 5.3 Timing of Challenge The parties may not challenge the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction before a state court until the arbitral tribu - nal has issued an award on its jurisdiction. The arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction may then be reviewed at the fol - lowing stages: • if the arbitral tribunal renders a partial award on its jurisdiction, that award may be challenged before the French courts – if the partial award confirms the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction, the challenge should not stay the arbitration proceedings; or • if the arbitral tribunal renders a final award on the merits and on its jurisdiction, the court will review the jurisdiction issue at the stage of setting aside or enforcing the award. 5.4 Standard of Judicial Review for Jurisdiction/Admissibility Under French law, the state court (the supporting judge and the judge hearing set-aside proceedings) exercises full review over the jurisdiction of the arbi - tral tribunal – without, however, reviewing the merits of the dispute. The judge hearing set-aside proceed - ings reviews the arbitral tribunal’s decision on its own jurisdiction, examining all elements of law or fact rel - evant to assessing the scope of the arbitration agree - ment and drawing the consequences for compliance with the mission entrusted to the arbitrators ( Cour de cassation , First Civil Chamber, 6 October 2010, No 08-20.563, Abela ; First Civil Chamber, 12 February 2025, No 21-22.978).
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