FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Elodie Mulon, Emmanuelle Bonboire-Barthélémy and Louise Astruc Baciotti, Chauveau Mulon & Associés
• error regarding the person of the other spouse or their essential qualities. In these cases, only the spouses, the spouse whose consent was not free or the public pros - ecutor can seek marriage nullity. These grounds for nullity can only be invoked within five years from the marriage or from the spouse’s acquisi - tion of full freedom or acknowledgment of the error (Article 180 of the Civil Code). Also, if the consent of the father, mother, family counsel or ancestors was necessary, the mar - riage nullity can only be requested by them or by the spouse who needed to consent (Article 182 of the Civil Code). This action is also sub - ject to a five-year limitation period from the time the person whose consent was required became aware of the marriage or from the time when the spouse reached the age required to consent to marriage independently. Finally, absolute nullities (Article 184 Civil of the Code) include: • legal incapacity – if the marriage was con - tracted before the spouses reached the age of 18; • lack of consent from one of the spouses; • absence of one spouse during the marriage celebration in France or abroad; • bigamy – if a second marriage was contract - ed before the dissolution of the first; • incest – if the marriage was celebrated between ascendants, descendants or allied individuals in direct line, in the same line or between members of the same sibling group, or between a nephew/niece and their uncle/ aunt; and • incompetence of the civil registrar.
In these cases, the marriage can be challenged within a 30-year period from its celebration by the spouses, any person with an interest or the public prosecutor. 1.2 Choice of Jurisdiction Jurisdictional Grounds French courts apply the provisions of Regula - tion (EU) No 2019/1111 (“Brussels IIb Regula - tion (recast)”) for proceedings initiated after 1 August 2022, and those of Regulation (EU) No 2201/2003 (“Brussels IIb”) for proceedings initi - ated before that date. According to Article 3 of the Brussels IIb Regula - tion (recast), French courts have jurisdiction over the divorce or legal separation of same-sex or opposite-sex spouses if: • the habitual residence of the spouses is in France; • the last habitual residence of the spouses is in France, insofar as one of them still resides there; • the habitual residence of the defendant is in France; • in the event of joint application, the habitual residence of either spouse is in France; • the habitual residence of the petitioner is in France if they resided there for at least one year immediately before filing the petition; • the habitual residence of the petitioner is in France if they resided there for at least six months immediately before filing the petition, and the petitioner is a French national; or • French is the nationality of both spouses. If the foregoing criteria do not establish the jurisdiction of any European court, Article 6 of the Regulation states that each member state’s domestic law governs this jurisdiction. In France, Articles 14 and 15 of the Civil Code provide a
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