FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal A decree of 29 December 2023 amended sev- eral provisions related to the appeal procedure (“2023 Decree”). In most cases, representation by an attorney is compulsory before the appeal court. The parties have one month from the notification of the judgment to lodge an appeal. The appeal period can be reduced to 15 days, particularly for interlocutory and interim relief orders, orders on motions and decisions from the enforcement judge. The time limit is extended by one month when the notified party is domiciled in French overseas territories, and by two months when the notified party is domiciled abroad. The notice of appeal shall state whether the appeal aims to cancel the judgment on proce- dural grounds or challenge its findings. In the lat- ter case, the notice must specify which findings are challenged. Since the 2023 Decree, these findings must be specified even though they are considered indivisible. The 2023 Decree also allows a party that did not include certain findings of the judgment in its notice of appeal to add them in its initial sub- missions rather than filing an amended notice of appeal. Once the appeal has been lodged, the case can be allotted to a standard track or a fast track. The latter deals with urgent cases, including but not limited to appeals against interim relief orders. On the standard track, appellants have three months from the filing of the notice of appeal to file their submissions. The defendant then has three months from the notification of the appel- lant’s submissions to respond. On the fast track, this is reduced to two months each. For both the
• the saisie-attribution enables the bailiff to seize the debtor’s available sums in their bank accounts; and • the saisie, sur salaire allows the creditor to seize the debtor’s wages, directly from the hands of the employer. 9.5 Enforcement of a Judgment From a Foreign Country The exequatur procedure is necessary for a for- eign judgment to be enforced on French territory. However, within the European Union, regulation provides that decisions given in one member state are, in principle, recognised in other mem- ber states with no need for any specific proce- dure. 10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation Under French law, an appeal allows for a re- examination of the case, both in fact and in law. Since 2020, appealing against first instance deci- sions does not suspend the decisions’ effects: they are provisionally enforceable as of right, unless the law or the judge decides otherwise. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments Most first-degree decisions and regulatory authorities’ sanctions can be challenged by way of appeal. An appeal can be lodged against a pre-trial judgment but, in most instances, it will only be reviewed by the appeal court together with the appeal lodged against the judgment on the mer- its.
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