MONACO Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephan Pastor, Emeline Elbaz-Mondeux, Daniel Goldenbaum and Xavier Widawski, CMS Monaco
6. Injunctive Relief 6.1 Circumstances of Injunctive Relief Injunctive relief may be awarded if the applicant can demonstrate that the measure is justified to prevent imminent damage or to stop an obvi- ously unlawful disturbance. There are various injunctions, such as prohibiting the use/disclo- sure of a document, sale of an asset and removal of information. Moreover, and subject to proving a certain prin- ciple of a claim, an applicant can ask for various seizures (regarding real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, yachts, goodwill, shares of a company, etc). 6.2 Arrangements for Obtaining Urgent Injunctive Relief The obtention of injunctive relief depends on the degree of emergency with the case and the adversarial or ex parte nature of the proceed- ings. In adversarial proceedings, a decision is usually obtained between a few weeks and a few months. With an ex parte request, a decision can usually be expected between a few days and two weeks. In the case of severe emergency, the President of the Court of First Instance may authorise sum- moning on an atypical day or time – eg, Satur- day, Sunday and public holidays. 6.3 Availability of Injunctive Relief on an Ex Parte Basis Injunctive relief can be obtained on an ex parte basis.
tion, private enquiries or the calling of witnesses in civil procedures. Parties must prove the facts they allege by way of external evidence – ie, a party cannot give testimony regarding its own account. Proof is shown by corroborating witness statement or with documents. There are strict rules regarding witness statements. 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mechanisms Please see 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases to 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction . 5.5 Legal Privilege Monaco recognises legal privilege in the form of professional secrecy ( secret professionnel ), vio- lation of which is criminally sanctioned by Article 308 of the Criminal Code with six months to one year imprisonment and/or a fine from EUR9,000 to EUR18,000. Such violation can also give rise to professional sanctions. Legal privilege in Monaco protects attorneys registered at the Monaco Bar ( avocats and avo- cats-défenseurs ). It does not protect in-house counsel correspondences. 5.6 Rules Disallowing Disclosure of a Document The protection of banking or professional secre- cy under Article 308 of the Criminal Code pro- hibits a person from disclosing any information in civil proceedings, even with an order from a court.
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