Chapter V: Family proceedings

In the cases provided for in articles 515-9 and 515-13 of the Civil Code, the matter shall be referred to the court by an application delivered or addressed to the registry. In addition to the particulars prescribed by Article 57 of this Code, the application shall contain a summary statement of the grounds for the application and, in an annex, the documents on which the application is based. These requirements…

The applicant who requests, pursuant to the 6° of article 515-11 of the Civil Code, authorisation to conceal his domicile or residence is exempt from indicating the address in his document instituting proceedings, provided that this information is brought to the attention of the lawyer assisting or representing him or of the public prosecutor at the judicial court to which he elects domicile. The deed shall mention this election of…

The parties defend themselves. They have the option of being assisted or represented by a lawyer. The case is heard and argued in chambers, after advice from the public prosecutor. The proceedings are oral. The judge ensures that sufficient time has elapsed between the summons and the hearing for the defendant to have been able to prepare his defence. The judge may, at any time during the proceedings, by simple…

The order ruling on the application for protective measures for victims of violence shall be provisionally enforceable unless the judge provides otherwise. The order sets the duration of the measures taken pursuant to articles 515-11 and 515-13 of the Civil Code. Failing this, they shall terminate at the end of a period of six months following notification of the order, subject to the provisions of articles 1136-13 and 1136-14; this…

Concealment of domicile or residence in subsequent civil proceedings, authorised pursuant to 6° of article 515-11 of the Civil Code, is subject to the conditions and procedures laid down by l’article 1136-5. In the event of refusal of authorisation as well as for the purposes of enforcing a court decision, the lawyer or public prosecutor from whom the applicant has requested or obtained the election of domicile shall communicate the…

The order shall be notified by service, unless the judge, either of his own motion or at the request of a party, decides that it shall be notified by the registry by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, or by administrative channels, in the event of serious and imminent danger to the safety of a person concerned by a protection order or where there is no other means of notification….

The administrative authority, requested by the court clerk to notify the order setting the date of the hearing or the protection order by administrative means, shall do so by delivery against receipt. It shall inform the court clerk as soon as possible of the steps taken and send him the receipt.

The protection order may be appealed within fifteen days of its notification.

An application for the protection order to be lifted or modified or for temporary dispensation from certain of its obligations, as well as an application for the order to be revoked or for new measures to be ordered, shall be made, investigated and judged under the same conditions as the initial application. However, where an appeal has been lodged, the application is made by petition delivered or addressed to the…

Where an application for divorce or legal separation is lodged before the expiry of the term of the protection measures or where the protection order is issued while divorce or legal separation proceedings are in progress, the measures of the protection order continue to have effect until a decision on the application for divorce or legal separation has become res judicata, unless otherwise decided by the judge hearing the application…