MONACO Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephan Pastor, Emeline Elbaz-Mondeux, Daniel Goldenbaum and Xavier Widawski, CMS Monaco
9. Damages and Judgment 9.1 Awards Available to the Successful Litigant The party who succumbs is usually required to pay its opponent the following. • Court costs ( dépens ). • Some of the lawyer’s fees. In practice, parties ask for a lump sum, though Monegasque judges often reduce the amount – thus this very rarely covers the entire lawyer’s fees. Depending on the stakes, in practice this is between EUR5,000 and EUR50,000. The judge may also decide to order each party to bear its own costs and expenses for the pro- ceedings. 9.2 Rules Regarding Damages There are no punitive damages in Monaco. The limit for damages lies with the integral indemni- fication of the injured party. A party cannot be awarded more money than the equivalent of its total prejudice, as defined by the court. 9.3 Pre-judgment and Post-judgment Interest The judgment may order the payment and accrued interests. In this case, the judge decides on the starting point of interests (the receipt of a formal notice prior to the judicial procedure, the summons, the judgment or a post-judgment date). 9.4 Enforcement Mechanisms of a Domestic Judgment Monegasque judgments are served by bailiff, who may proceed to enforcement measures once the judgment is enforceable.
7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings Proceedings on the merits usually take eight to 18 months in first instance (likewise for appeals), and six months before a court of revision. Of course, these delays can be considerably lengthened depending on the number of parties, the complexity of the dispute and the parties’ strategy. 8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval Court approval is not required to settle a lawsuit. 8.2 Settlement of Lawsuits and Confidentiality The settlement of a lawsuit can remain confi- dential. 8.3 Enforcement of Settlement Agreements This is subject to the parties’ will. Settlement agreements generally provide that, if a party does not execute its obligations, the counter- party can initiate a lawsuit before Monegasque courts based on contractual liability. 8.4 Setting Aside Settlement Agreements As a settlement is a contract, it may be set aside if contractual conditions of validity are not met (ie, incapacity, fraud, illegality, etc). Also, the set- tlement agreement must provide for reciprocal concessions as a condition of validity. If the conditions for the validity of the settlement agreement are not met, the settlement could be declared null and void by a judge, and therefore be set aside.
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