FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
loss of opportunity, defined as the loss of a “chance”, are now deemed to be compensable, although they will only give rise to partial compensation (ie, the esti- mated value of the probability of that positive event happening). In terms of classification, French civil law commonly distinguishes between pecuniary damage (loss of margin, loss of expected profit, etc) and non-pecu- niary (or moral) damage (harm caused to honour or reputation, emotional damage, etc). In the case of personal injury damage, when the physi- cal integrity of an individual is at stake, a reference table called the Dintilhac nomenclature is used to identify the many different types of damage that can be repaired. Damages can be evaluated by judicial experts. 9.3 Pre-Judgment and Post-Judgment Interest Legal interest may be added to the damages. It incurs from the date of delivery of the court decision (or of the formal notice), and is calculated according to either legal or contractual rates. 9.4 Enforcement Mechanisms of a Domestic Judgment Since 2020, all court decisions are automatically enforceable immediately (ie, provisionally), notwith- standing an appeal against the decision. However, the court may decide to dismiss provisional enforce- ability, in whole or in part, if it is deemed incompatible with the nature of the case or if it entails excessive consequences. Similarly, in the case of appeal or opposition, the first president of the court may be asked to dismiss provisional enforcement if there is a serious plea for annulment or if it entails manifestly excessive conse- quences. The judge may also order the debtor to pay penalties in case of failure to pay (a penalty for each day of delay). If the debtor does not spontaneously adhere to the judgment, the creditor shall serve the decision by bailiff. The bailiff may then proceed to the following
attachments provided for by the French Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures: • the saisie-attribution enables the bailiff to seize the debtor’s available sums in their bank accounts; and • the saisie sur salaire allows the creditor to seize the debtor’s wages, directly from the hands of the employer. 9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country To enforce a foreign judgment in France, one must follow an exequatur procedure. However, within the European Union, regulation provides that decisions given in one member state are, in principle, recog- nised in other member states with no need for any specific procedure. Under French law, an appeal allows for a re-examina- tion of the case, both in fact and in law. Since 2020, appealing against first instance decisions does not suspend the decisions’ effects: they are provisionally enforceable as of right, unless the law or the judge decides otherwise. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Most first-degree decisions and regulatory authori- ties’ sanctions can be challenged by way of appeal. An appeal can be lodged against a pre-trial judgment but, in most instances, it will only be reviewed by the appeal court, together with the appeal lodged against the judgment on the merits. 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal In most cases, representation by an attorney is com- pulsory before the appeal court. 10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation The parties have one month from the notification of the judgment to lodge an appeal. The appeal period can be reduced to 15 days, particularly for interlocu- tory and interim relief orders, orders on motions and decisions from the enforcement judge. The time limit is extended by one month when the notified party is
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