MONACO Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephan Pastor, Emeline Elbaz-Mondeux, Daniel Goldenbaum and Xavier Widawski, CMS Monaco
a financial contribution for the winning party for its lawyers’ fees and costs, though this does not occur prior to the case. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/ Motions If the interim motion is issued in the form of an ex parte application, either there is no provision on the costs or, if there is, the cost award is post- poned to the end of the main trial. As mentioned in 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs , if the interim motion is issued pending trial, the judge grants an indem- nity to the winning party that is a mere contribu- tion to lawyers’ fees and costs. 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe Please refer to 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions . Apart from the disclosure application referred to in 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions , certain forms of discovery are discussed in Articles 300 et seq of the Code of Civil Procedure. Article 300 states that if, before any trial, there is a legitimate reason to preserve or establish proof of facts on which the outcome of a dispute may depend, legally admissible investigative meas- ures may be ordered at the request of any inter- ested party, on ex parte application, when the circumstances require that the measure not be taken in adversarial proceedings, or in summary proceedings. 5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases Admissible investigative measures may include obtaining evidence held by future opponents or
third parties. The enforcement of these meas- ures is supervised by the court. Other legal provisions in the following articles also fall under the powers of the judge. • Article 309 ( des verifications personnelles du juge ): the court shall make any observations, evaluations, assessments or reconstructions it deems necessary, visiting the premises, if necessary, with the parties present or sum- moned. It shall also gather all evidence likely to enlighten it and shall hear such people as it sees fit for information purposes. • Article 312 ( interrogatoire des parties ) of the Code of Civil Procedure: the court may, in any matter, examine the parties or some of them on the facts of the case. It may decide that the examination shall take place before one of its members. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, these provisions have never been applied. Article 324 states that the parties can provide the court with third parties’ witness statements, obtained either from witness statements given to the court or through an inquiry. The authors are unaware of any inquiry having been performed by a civil judge. 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties Discovery from third parties is possible through a disclosure application, as stated in 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions and 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases . 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction Monaco is based on a Roman law system, with adversarial civil procedures. The authors are unaware of matters relating to cross-examina-
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