French Code of civil procedure

The parties may, in the event of difficulties, request, without form, from the registrar of the court having jurisdiction pursuant to Article 52, to verify the amount of costs mentioned in Article 695. The same applies to a court officer who intends to recover costs; his application is then accompanied by the detailed account that he is required to submit to the parties under the tariff regulations. This account shall…

The court clerk verifies the amount of the costs after, if necessary, making the necessary adjustments to bring the account into line with the tariffs. He shall deliver or send by simple letter to the interested party a certificate of verification.

The pursuing party shall notify the audited account to the opposing party, who shall have a period of one month in which to contest it. The notification implies acceptance by its author of the audited account. This notification must mention the time limit for contesting and the procedures for doing so and specify that if no contest is made within the time limit indicated, the audit certificate may be made…

If the opposing party does not contest within the time limit, the pursuer may ask the verifying clerk to mention this on the verification certificate. This mention is equivalent to a writ of execution.

A person who intends to contest the audit may always submit an application for a tax order himself; he may also do so through his representative. The application is made orally or in writing to the registry of the court that audited the account. It must state the reasons on which it is based and be accompanied by the audit certificate.

The president of the court or the magistrate delegated for this purpose shall decide by order in the light of the audited account and any other relevant documents, after having received the observations of the defendant to the challenge or having requested them from him.

The judge shall rule both on the application for tax and on other applications relating to the recovery of costs.