| Cases
judged |
Court |
Is
it possible to appeal
the decision rendered? |
| For
decisions made in civil cases by the Tribunal de grande instance - TGI and
which are not judged by specialised courts :(divorce),
adoption |
Tribunal
de grande instance
(TGI) |
Yes,
before the
court of appeal (cour d'appel) for cases involving amounts greater than
FRF 13,000 (FRF 16,000 for the Industrial Tribunal - Conseil de prud'hommes)
For cases
involving amounts smaller than FRF 13,000 (FRF 16,000 for the Industrial
Tribunal), the only possible appeal is to the Cour de Cassation which rules
on matters of law and not on the facts of the case (just like the House
of Lords)
|
| For
matters involving wards of the court, rent, etc. and civil cases up to FRF
30,000 |
Tribunal
d'instance (TI) |
| For
cases between merchants (commercants) or concerning transactions governed
by commercial law |
Tribunal
de commerce (the commercial court) |
| For
cases originating from employment or apprenticeship contracts |
Conseil
de prud'hommes (the Industrial Tribunal) |
| For
cases concerning agricultural tenancy |
Tribunal
paritaire, baux ruraux (Joint tribunal for agricultural matters)
|
| For
disputes with social security organisations (health and retirement coverage,
etc.) |
Tribunal
des affaires de Sécurité sociale (the Social security tribunal)
|
Yes,
such cases described above may be appealed before the Court of Appeal |
| For
petty or minor offences (contraventions), subject to fines, restriction
or deprivation of rights and additional penalties) |
Tribunal
de police (the Police Court) |
Yes,
appeals may be filed with the Court of Appeal except for sentences limited
to modest fines |
| For
more serious offences (delits), which the law punishes by fines, imprisonment
(up to a maximum of 10 years), and other penalties |
Tribunaux
correctionnels ,
which are a division of the Tribunaux de grande instance |
Yes,
these decisions may be appealed before the Court of Appeal |
| For
the most serious category of offenses (crimes) for which the law stipulates
one or more penalties (example: life imprisonment) |
Cour
d'assises |
Yes,
appeals may be filed with the Cour de Cassation |
| Re-examination
of a case previously judged by a Tribunal d'instance, Tribunal de Grande
Instance, a Commercial Court, Industrial Tribunal, Land Tribunal, Social
Security Tribunal, Police Court or Tribunal correctionnel |
Cour
d'appel
(Court of Appeal) |
The
Court of Appeal decision may be appealed to the Cour de Cassation |
| The
Cour de Cassation does not retry the case itself, but rather verifies that
the law was correctly applied by the courts and the courts of appeal |
Cour
de Cassation Decisions |
No,
appeals are not possible - see (1) |
| Cases
heard |
Court |
Appeal
possible? |
| Disputes
involving public authorities (administrative bodies, territorial authorities,
etc). |
Administrative
court |
Yes,
before the administrative appeal court or the Council of State. See the
powers of these two courts. |
| Civil
and military pension courts, social assistance courts, etc. |
Criminal
Court |
|
| Review
of a case already judged by an administrative court. |
Administrative
appeal court |
Yes,
through Council of State using supreme appeal procedure ("recours en cassation"). |
| Review
of a case already judged by other administrative courts and ruling directly
on the legality of the administrative actions. |
Council
of state |
No
appeal possible. See 1. |