French Litigation and Civil Disputes

France has a codified Civil Law system as opposed to  common law which the English system is based on.

In French Law there is relatively little emphasis placed on advocacy and a heavy emphasis placed upon written proof and written submission.

Damages Awarded in French Litigation 

The level of damages awarded will generally be less than in a comparable English Court action.

A Court action can begin either in the lower district Court of first instance known as the Tribunal d'Instance (TI) or depending upon the matter and its complexity it could start in the higher district Court of first instance known as the Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI). There is also a separate commercial Court called the Tribunal de Commerce and an administrative Court dealing with decisions of the French Government, called the Tribunal Administrative.

Length of French Court Cases 

Cases can typically take between 18 months and 2 years to be decided in the first instance. An appeal could take the same time again.

Awarding Costs

In France the losing party will rarely be ordered to pay more than about 50% of the winning party's costs and thus more cases once initiated tend to go to trial in France rather than in England, as there is less incentive to settle.

For more information on French litigation elsewhere on this website please see our comparative analysis of the differences between English litigation and French Litigation.