French Code of civil procedure

The parties are, unless otherwise provided, required to constitute a lawyer before the judicial court. The constitution of the lawyer entails election of domicile.

The parties are exempted from having to constitute a lawyer in the cases provided for by law or regulation and in the following cases: 1° In matters falling within the jurisdiction of the protection litigation judge; 2° In the matters listed by articles R. 211-3-13 to R. 211-3-16, R. 211-3-18 à R. 211-3-21, R. 211-3-23 of the Code of Judicial Organisation and in the matters listed in Table IV-II annexed…

Where representation by a lawyer is not compulsory, the parties shall defend themselves. The parties may be assisted or represented by: -a lawyer; -their spouse, cohabitee or the person with whom they have entered into a civil solidarity pact; -their parents or relatives in the direct line; -their parents or relatives in the collateral line up to and including the third degree; -persons exclusively attached to their personal service or…

Where representation by a lawyer is compulsory, the defendant is required to constitute a lawyer within the period of fifteen days, starting from the summons. However, if the summons is delivered to him less than or equal to fifteen days before the date of the hearing, he may constitute counsel until the hearing.

As soon as it is constituted, the defendant’s lawyer informs the plaintiff’s lawyer; a copy of the act of constitution is given to the court registry. The document includes, where applicable, the defendant’s agreement for the proceedings to proceed without a hearing pursuant to article L. 212-5-1 du code de l’organisation judiciaire.

The appointment of a lawyer by the defendant or by any person who becomes a party in the course of proceedings shall be notified to the other parties by notification between lawyers. This document indicates: a) If the defendant is a natural person, his surname, forenames, profession, domicile, nationality, date and place of birth; b) If the defendant is a legal person, its form, name, registered office and the body…

The parties’ pleadings shall be signed by their lawyer and served in the same way as notifications between lawyers. If there is more than one plaintiff or defendant, they must be notified to all the lawyers who have been constituted. They shall not be admissible until the particulars referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 765 have been provided. The communication of documents produced is validly attested by the signature…

The copy of the writ of summons and of the pleadings shall be delivered to the court registry either as soon as they are served, with proof of service, or if they were served before the court was seised, with a copy of the writ of summons.