REGULAR CIVIL PROCEDURE BEFORE THE "TRIBUNAL OF GRANDE INSTANCE"

1. STARTING WITH A COMLAINT FILED AGAINST A DEFENDANT :

• BY THE CLAIMANT

• SERVED BY A "BAILIFF"

It is a "written procedure" : only observations made in writing, duly submitted to the court and to the adverse party are acceptable. No jury

2. FIRST PHASE:

The Court sets a date for a hearing. Depending on the Court, it takes around 2 or 3 months between the day the claim is received by the Court and this first hearing. If the Defendant has a lawyer, the parties will engage in discovery by exchanging all evidence, pleadings and other documents related to their claim or in response to the other party's allegations. At the fist hearing, the judge will set a deadline to the Defendant to issue his primary responsive pleadings and exchange all evidence he wants to submit. Copy of the pleadings must be sent to the Court to be on records as well as the list of all evidence exchanged and must be at the same time, sent to the other party. The judge also invites the attorneys to attend another hearing to make sure the parties have complied with their obligations to exchange and communicate pleadings and evidence. If the Defendant has complied with his obligation, the Attorney of the complainant may want to respond to the arguments of the Defendant stated in his responsive pleadings. He will then request the judge to give him time do so. The judge will set a new hearing to verify that this has been done at the latest at the date of the hearing. Then the other party may want to respond also to these arguments. This process will continue like this until one of the parties ask the judge to set a final deadline and hearing for all the parties, after which discovery is concluded. No other pleadings or documents can be further exchanged and submitted to the Court.

3. SECOND PHASE:

The judge will set a date for a final hearing, where the lawyers are required to be present to make their final arguments in front of the Court, before a panel of 3 professional judges (one Chief Judge and 2 assistants).

Since the judges do not know the case at all, at least most of the time, this step is seen as crucial by the parties.

Once the counsels have finished their arguments, the Chief judge will set a date for issuance of the judgment. Judges may ask questions during or after the attorneys make their arguments.

The whole lawsuit, from original complaint to final judgment can take up to 1 year.

If one party is not satisfied with the judgment, an appeal can be filed within one month of the notification of the tribunal's decision. The appeal normally suspends the execution of the judgment but if the Court decides it, some money may have to be paid immediately.

After filing the notice of appeal, the appellate Court will send the parties a notification of the hearing date with deadlines for submissions to the Court. In their submissions, both parties may change their pleadings and arguments, add claims and submit additional evidence in addition to raising issues with the judgment of the Court of first instance.