FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Diane Bandon-Tourret and Agathe Clarac, LexCase
In all cases, the judge shall consider the fairness or economic situation of the convicted party. 2.15 Available Funding in Product Liability Claims No litigation funding exists in France. If the claimant’s financial resources are insufficient for a trial before a French court, he or she may be entitled to financial assistance from the state, known as “aide juridictionnelle” . 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Proceedings or Co- Ordinated Proceedings in Product Group action was introduced in France by the Consumer Act 2014-344 of 17 March 2014 and it allows victims of the same damage caused by a professional to group together and take legal action. The plaintiffs can thus defend themselves with a single file and a single lawyer. Group action was updated through several laws and was extended to several areas. A group action can be launched in the following areas: • consumer and anti-competitive practices; • health; • environment; • protection of personal data; • discrimination in the workplace; and • property rental. Liability Claims Collective Action Recently, law No 2025-391 of 30 April 2025, known as the “DDADUE Law” , has radically reformed group action in France, transposing European Directive 2020/1828 and introducing a unified, broader and more accessible system for the collective defence of rights.
A unified system for group actions is available in all the fields concerned (consumer affairs, environment, personal data, discrimination, and labour law), with the exception of group actions in the field of public health, which remain subject to a special system. Indeed, while other actions may be brought against “a person acting in the exercise or on the occasion of his professional activity, by a legal person governed by public law or by a body governed by private law entrust- ed with the management of a public service” , healthcare group actions may only be brought against a producer or supplier of a healthcare product. The court with territorial jurisdiction is that of the place where the defendant lives. The Paris court has jurisdiction if the defendant lives abroad or has no known domicile or residence. The proce - dure is divided into two phases: the admissibility and liability phase, followed by the compensa - tion phase. Group action must meet a number of conditions. • At least two people must consider that they have suffered damage as a result of the same breach of duty by the professional. • The reform has broadened the categories of persons entitled to initiate a group action: the individuals must have recourse to trade unions, qualified cross-border entities and the public prosecutor’s office can now bring group actions, alongside the approved asso - ciations already authorised. The legislator has abolished the limitations relat - ing to the nature of the losses that can be com - pensated. It is therefore no longer compulsory to restrict the action to compensation for personal injury in the health sector, or to property dam - age in the consumer sector. From now on, any
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