MONACO Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephan Pastor, Emeline Elbaz-Mondeux and Xavier Widawski, CMS Monaco
4. Pre-Trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
4.3 Dispositive Motions Except as discussed in 4.2 Early Judgment Applica- tions , the case continues until its conclusion before the court. The parties exchange writing and exhibits back and forth; when the judge finds that the case is ready to be tried, they set the final hearing for the oral arguments of the parties. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit Interested parties may voluntarily join the proceedings via written pleadings filed with the court and commu- nicated to the parties. All parties may also call a third person to guarantee their being in the proceedings, by way of a summons that is joined with the main case. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs There is no such security for a defendant’s costs under Monegasque law. However, please note that, in divorce proceedings specifically, the parties can ask for provisional meas- ures, such as an advance on legal costs from their opponent. Also, please note that in all cases the final decision rendered (upon the parties’ requests) grants a finan- cial contribution for the winning party for its lawyers’ fees and costs, though this does not occur prior to the case. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/Motions If the interim motion is issued in the form of an ex parte application, either there is no provision on the costs or, if there is, the cost award is postponed to the end of the main trial. As mentioned in 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs , if the interim motion is issued pending trial, the judge grants an indemnity to the winning party that is a mere contribution to lawyers’ fees and costs. 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe Please refer to 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions .
Before the trial on the merits, it is possible to make pri- or applications – for instance, aiming to discover evi- dence (such as disclosure orders allowing the sending of a bailiff to retrieve evidence from third parties on condition of demonstrating legitimate interest) and to freeze assets. This leads to ex parte orders that are granted by the President of the First Instance Court within a few weeks. It is also possible to file is a non-adversarial procedure allowing a creditor to request payment of a contrac- tual debt from the Justice of the Peace, based solely on submitted documents (order to pay ( injonction de payer )). There is no legal limit on the amount claimed, but in practice judges are reluctant to grant high-val- ue orders. The debtor must have a known address in Monaco. Once the trial has been initiated, one party can make an interim application with the court if an urgent matter arises that requires a pretrial decision (after an adver- sarial debate), such as the granting of a provisional remedy in an emergency or a sentencing to commu- nicate a document under a daily fine. This leads to a judgment being rendered within several months. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications A party can ask for early judgment if it raised excep- tions (such as a jurisdictional issue, nullity, time bar issue, inadmissibility) and if it wants the court to rule on these before any substantive hearing. If the court agrees, despite possible opposition from the other party, an early hearing on these exceptions and early judgment can be obtained. This judgment can end the procedure if it rules in favour of incompetence of the court, a nullity of the summons or a time bar. There is no written procedure for this – it is only cus- tomary.
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