Chapter X: Legal protection of minors and adults

An appeal is lodged by declaration made or sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt to the registry of the court of first instance. The clerk registers the appeal on its date; he issues or sends by simple letter, a receipt for the declaration. He shall forward a copy of the file to the court without delay.

When the appeal is lodged by the guardianship judge, he or she shall attach to the file a note setting out the grounds for his or her appeal.

Where the appellant restricts his appeal to one of the heads of the decision other than the pronouncement of protection, he shall specify this.

The court clerk notifies the public prosecutor of appeals lodged in matters relating to the legal protection of adults, except where the latter is the appellant. Before the Court of Appeal, cases relating to the legal protection of adults shall be communicated to the Public Prosecutor in accordance with the provisions of Articles 424 and 426 to 428 of this code.

The clerk of the court summons to the hearing scheduled for the debates: 1° If one has been constituted, the appellant’s lawyer, by any means; 2° The appellant and the persons to whom the decision or deliberation has been notified, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, as well as, where applicable, their lawyers. The latter shall have the right to intervene before the court. The public prosecutor shall also…

The summons shall be sent, as soon as the hearing scheduled for the debates has been set and at least fifteen days in advance, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. A copy of the summons is sent to the persons concerned by ordinary letter. The summons is equivalent to a summons to appear.

The appeal is heard and decided in chambers. The procedure is oral. The parties’ submissions or the reference they make to submissions they would have made in writing are noted on the file or recorded in minutes. At the hearing, the court shall hear the appellant, the adult to be protected or protected, unless the court applies the provisions of the second paragraph of article 432 or article 494-4 of…

Unless the case is decided at the first hearing, the clerk shall notify those summoned who have not been verbally notified of the date of subsequent hearings.

The court may, even of its own motion, substitute a new decision for that of the guardianship judge or the deliberation of the family council. Until the close of the proceedings before the court, the guardianship judge and the family council remain competent to take any decision or deliberation necessary to preserve the rights and interests of the protected person. The clerk’s office of the court of first instance immediately…

The court’s decision shall be notified by its registry. The file, to which a certified copy of the judgment is attached, is then returned without delay to the registry of the court of first instance.