MONACO Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephan Pastor, Emeline Elbaz-Mondeux and Xavier Widawski, CMS Monaco
CMS Monaco Villa des Cigognes 17 rue Louis Aureglia 98000 Monaco
Tel: +377 97 98 42 24 Fax: +377 97 98 42 25 Email: contact@cms-pcm.com Web: www.cms.law/pcm
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System Although as a sovereign state the Principality of Mona- co has created its own legal system, this is somewhat influenced by the French legal system and is widely based on Roman law and the Napoleonic Code. In this respect, some important parts of Monegasque law are inspired by French law. Monegasque civil procedures follow an adversarial model and are conducted mostly through written submissions. Monegasque criminal procedures follow an inquisito- rial model in the investigative phase and an adversarial process in the phase of judgment. They are mostly oral and supported by written submissions. 1.2 Court System Monaco is both a city and a state, and the judicial courts are concentrated in the Palais de Justice de Monaco . In terms of judicial organisation, Monaco has three levels of civil jurisdiction, as follows. The first degree comprises: • the Justice of the Peace ( Juge de Paix ), which deals with claims of up to EUR10,000; • the First Instance Tribunal, which is competent to rule on civil and commercial litigation and on cer- tain areas of administrative disputes involving the State or public bodies, for claims over EUR10,000;
• the Employment Tribunal, which is competent for disputes related to employment contracts; and • the Commercial Lease Arbitral Commission and the Rents Arbitral Commission. The second degree comprises the Court of Appeal, which has general jurisdiction over appeals. The Court of Revision acts as a cassation jurisdic- tion; its role is to ensure that the decisions of lower- degree jurisdictions apply the law correctly. Although not a third-degree jurisdiction, owing to the particular judicial organisation in Monaco, the Court of Revision becomes a third-degree jurisdiction when, after hav- ing set aside a decision of a lower jurisdiction, the Court refers the relevant case to itself (composed dif- ferently) to retry it definitively both in fact and in law. 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings Proceedings are mostly open to the public, except where the law finds that the debates must be in cham- bers (Article 849 of the Code of Civil Procedure) and mainly for cases heard by a single judge such as the conciliating judge (first part of divorce proceedings) or the guardianship judge ( juge tutélaire ), who deals with minors or majors under protection. The court filings and submissions, even in public hear- ings, go to the opponent and the judge(s). They are not publicly accessible. 1.4 Legal Representation in Court Before the First Instance Tribunal, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Revision, the parties are represented by an avocat-défenseur registered at the Monaco Bar.
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