When an initial decision has been rendered by a court, it can, under certain conditions, be challenged. The case is then re-examined and re-judged by an appellate court. The appeal procedure is thus based on the existence of different levels of jurisdiction.
An appeal is possible when the decision specifies that it is rendered in first instance.
Some judgments cannot be appealed; these are judgments rendered in the last resort, for example:
- The local court when the amount of the dispute does not exceed 5000 euros;
- The joint court for rural leases when the amount of the dispute does not exceed 5000 euros;
- The commercial court when the amount of the dispute does not exceed 5000 euros;
- The labor court if the employee’s claims do not exceed 5,000 euros (art. D. 1462-3 of the Labor Code).
The party appealing a decision is the ‘appellant’ and the person defending in the appeal instance is the ‘respondent’.
The appeal judges can:
- Fully or partially confirm the judgment rendered in the first instance;
- Modify or annul the judgment rendered in the first instance.
The appeal can cover all or part of the decision and is possible for all parties to the trial.
To be admissible, the appeal must be made within certain time limits, which are not the same depending on the types of decisions rendered.
Appeal Deadline in Civil Matters
If the judgment has not been notified to a party, they have a period of two (2) years after the pronouncement of the judgment (art. 528-1 of the Code of Civil Procedure) to appeal.
However, as a general rule, the deadline to appeal a contentious judgment is one (1) month (art.538 Code of Civil Procedure) from the notification or service of the judgment.
This deadline is reduced for certain decisions. It is 15 days in the following situations:
- In non-contentious matters (example: adoption or change of matrimonial regime), (art. 538 Code of Civil Procedure);
- The expedited procedure, namely:
- when the case is of an urgent nature;
- an order for interim relief (art.490 Code of Civil Procedure);
- a judgment rendered following the accelerated procedure on the merits;
- an order issued by the pre-trial judge.
- Provisional measures orders from the family affairs judge (art. 1102 Code of Civil Procedure);
- Decisions of the enforcement judge (art. R121-20 Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures);
- Petition rejection orders, if they do not come from the first president of the court of appeal (art. 496 Code of Civil Procedure).
The appeal deadline is 10 days in matters of collective proceedings (art. R661-2 and R661-3 of the Commercial Code), such as judicial reorganization or liquidation.
Extension of the deadline:
The appeal deadline is extended by one (1) month for the party residing overseas when the decision was made in metropolitan France (art. 643 Code of Civil Procedure). The same applies to decisions made overseas for a person residing in metropolitan France (art. 644 Code of Civil Procedure).
The appeal deadline is extended by two (2) months for a person residing abroad (art. 643 Code of Civil Procedure).
Calculation of the Time Limit
Article 503 of the Code of Civil Procedure states that “judgments can only be executed against those to whom they are opposed after they have been notified to them“.
Thus, the notification of the judgment is a necessary prerequisite for its execution.
The appeal deadline starts from the service of the decision by a justice commissioner (since July 1, 2022, bailiffs and judicial auctioneers have become justice commissioners), its notification by the court registry or from the pronouncement of the decision at a public hearing by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt.
Thus, service is carried out by a justice commissioner and notification by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt by the court registry.
When a deadline is expressed in days, the day of the act that starts the deadline does not count, with the exception of the deferred appeal whose deadline runs from the day of the order (Cass. 2nd civ., June 30, 2022, No. 21-12.865).
The deadline expires on the last day at midnight. When the deadline expires on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday or non-working day, this deadline is extended to the next working day (art. 642 Code of Civil Procedure; Cass. civ. 2, Oct. 1, 2020, No. 19-17.797).
Example: You were notified of a family court judge’s decision on Friday, November 4, and you have 15 days to appeal. The day of November 4 is not included in the calculation, we add 15 days which means the deadline expires on Saturday, November 19; however, since it’s a Saturday, it will be extended to the first working day, namely Monday: you will therefore have until Monday, November 21 to appeal.
Effect of the Appeal
Even in case of appeal by one or all parties to the proceedings, the decision rendered by the first judge is enforceable, unless otherwise decided and justified by the judge. It is also possible to request by summary procedure to the first president of the court of appeal to stop the provisional execution. Article 514 of the Code of Civil Procedure reserves cases where the law or the judge would decide otherwise.
Certain decisions are not enforceable by law on a provisional basis, this is the case in matters of civil status or in family matters for decisions of the family court judge that end the proceedings.
Recourse to a Lawyer
In principle, recourse to a lawyer to lodge an appeal is mandatory. However, there are exceptions in the following procedures:
- Protection of adults (example: guardianship, curatorship);
- Labor Court disputes;
- Over-indebtedness;
- Placement of a child by the juvenile court judge;
- Parental authority;
- Cases under the jurisdiction of the Rural Lease Tribunal;
- Cases under the jurisdiction of the Social Division.
Request for Legal Aid and Interruption of the Appeal Period
Regardless of the court of first instance that rendered the decision, a request for legal aid interrupts the time limit for appeal (art. 2241 Civil Code). This means that a new time limit, of the same duration as the initial time limit, will start to run from the date on which the applicant for legal aid can no longer contest the decision on their application or, in case of appeal, from the date on which the decision relating to this appeal was notified to them (art. 43 of Decree No. 2020-1717 of December 28, 2020).
However, the request for legal aid must be formalized before the declaration of appeal.
The right of access to a judge excludes, in fact, that the appeal period can run as long as a final decision has not been made on a request for legal aid filed within this period (ECHR October 6, 2011, No. 52124/08, Staszkow v. France).
APPLICABLE REFERENCES
Articles 514 to 524 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) (provisional executions); Articles 528 to 537 of the CPC (common provisions for appeal); Articles 538 to 541 of the CPC (appeal deadline and foreclosure); Articles 542 to 570 of the CPC (principles of appeals in civil matters); Articles 640 to 647-1 of the CPC (calculation of deadlines in civil matters); Article 899 of the CPC (representation by a lawyer); Articles 901 to 916 of the CPC (declaration of appeal in civil matters);
Decree No. 2020-1717 of December 28, 2020 implementing Law No. 91-647 of July 10, 1991 on legal aid and relating to legal aid and assistance for lawyer intervention in non-jurisdictional procedures.
