FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Barbara Levy, Paul Talbourdet and Alison Vogt, De Pardieu Brocas Maffei
judge. Any creditor in possession of an enforceable judgment evidencing a claim that is due and payable will now be able to appoint a bailiff. The judge’s con - trol is maintained, but a posteriori. In circumstances where the creditor has to enforce their judgment against the real estate of the debt - or, they must seek a foreclosure of real estate ( sai- sie immobilière ). Traditionally, the forced sale of real estate is not perceived as a matter of priority, in view of how time-consuming this process is. 2.3 Costs and Time Taken to Enforce Domestic Judgments Time The length of the proceedings to enforce domestic judgments will depend on a wide range of factors, including the nature of the enforcement measure, how easy it is to determine the debtor’s assets, and the nature and location of the debtor’s assets. Costs Enforcement costs are subject to a scale of charges that establishes the remuneration owed to bailiffs for each enforcement measure. Under Decree No 96-1080 of 12 December 1996, the remuneration scale for bail - iffs comprises fixed and proportional charges. As a matter of principle, the debtor must ultimately pay the major part of the costs of enforcing the judgment against their own assets. When the publicly available information concerning the debtor’s assets is incomplete and/or is not suffi - cient to determine the debtor’s assets, there are other means by which a creditor holding an enforceable judgment can lawfully identify another party’s asset position within the French jurisdiction – mainly by entrusting the task to the bailiff charged with obtain - ing forced execution against the debtor’s property. 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments 2.4 Post-Judgment Procedures for Determining Defendants’ Assets As a matter of principle, the debtor may challenge enforcement measures within one month following the date of service. The case must be filed with the enforcement judge, who generally rules within three
to six months, after the parties have had the chance to file written briefs and appear in court. The enforcement judge may exercise discretionary powers in favour of a debtor. These include granting the debtor a period of up to two years to repay the debt. 2.6 Unenforceable Domestic Judgments Enforcement covers all proceedings permitting the carrying out of “enforceable” obligations against the debtor’s assets. Examples under French law are: • the obligation to pay; • obligations to do something or to refrain from doing something; and • obligations to give or return. The basic principle in French law is that any credi - tor holding an enforceable judgment relating to one of these three categories of obligations may obtain forced execution against the property of the debtor. Therefore, and broadly speaking, a judgment will not be enforceable if it remains subject to ordinary recourses or if it is not provisionally enforceable by law. It should also be emphasised that – as of 2008 – an enforcement action is time-barred ten years after the date of the judgment, as a matter of principle. 2.7 Register of Domestic Judgments The Cour de cassation ‘s documentation and analysis service has a database mainly containing the deci - sions and opinions of the Cour de cassation , as well as decisions of particular interest issued by other judicial courts. The database is publicly available under the conditions applicable to public service legal publica - tions on the internet. Most of the published court deci - sions can be accessed via the Légifrance legal portal. Judgments are part of the public record and there is no way under French law for a judgment debtor who has paid what is owed to remove the judgment from the above-mentioned database. Steps may be taken during the judicial proceedings to remove the names of the parties, but only in exceptional circumstances.
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