FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Laloum, Jordan Pontal, Julie Sarny and Gabin Dupont-Guianvarch, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Second, if the lawyer’s fees are deemed exces - sive, the judge has the authority to reduce the amount. When reviewing a request for fee adjustment, the judge will take into account fac - tors such as the client’s financial situation, the complexity of the case, the costs incurred by the lawyer, the lawyer’s reputation and the level of diligence demonstrated in handling the case.
As a general rule, administrative courts of appeal have jurisdiction to hear appeals against rulings made by administrative tribunals at first instance. In such cases, the appeal must be lodged with the administrative court of appeal corresponding to the jurisdiction where the court that issued the contested decision is located. However, in certain exceptional cases, the Coun - cil of State serves directly as the appellate court. This is notably the case for the appeal lodged against the summary judgment issued in interim fundamental freedoms procedure ( référé liberté ). 15.3 Permission to Appeal In France, under general principles, any party to a first instance procedure is entitled to appeal against judgments handed down in that proce - dure. It is therefore not necessary to obtain the approval of the lower or higher court to lodge an appeal. However, should a court of first instance rule “at first and last instance” ( en premier et dern- ier ressort ), its decision may only be appealed in cassation ( pourvoi en cassation ). This is the case, for example, in matters of consultation and communication of administrative documents or of refusal of law enforcement assistance for the performance of an administrative decision. 15.4 Rehearing of Appeal? In the event of an appeal against an administra - tive court decision, the appellate judge has a dual mission. • Verification of the regularity of the challenged court decision – first, the appellate judge must verify the regularity of the challenged court decision. This means that the appellate judge ensures that the trial judge complied with all applicable procedural requirements
15. Appeals 15.1 Right to Appeal
There is no automatic right to a second hearing based on constitutional, international treaties, or legislative guarantees, nor is there any general principle of law that provides for it. The right to appeal exists solely within the limits and under the conditions established by the relevant legal provisions (Council of State, 17 December 2003, Meyet, case No 258253). In this context, Article R. 811-1 of the Admin - istrative Justice Code establishes the principle that any party involved in proceedings before the administrative court has the right to appeal any judicial decision made during those proceed - ings. However, in certain cases, the right to appeal is restricted. For instance, summary judgement issued in pre-contractual summary proceedings ( référé précontractuel ) can only be subject to an appeal in cassation before the Council of State. 15.2 Appeal Forums Where an appeal is allowed, claimants must lodge their appeal before the court that has both material and territorial jurisdiction to hear the case.
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