FRENCH CIVIL APPEAL: A PROCEDURAL MODEL LACKING THE NOVA PROHIBITION

Abstract

The article examines the French civil appeal with reference to its subject mutability and openness to new defences. In doing so, it investigates the appeal principal characters and especially the impact of the effet dévolutif; in fact, it resulted that its transposition in the civil procedure code triggered a significant openness to new prétentions, new defendant’s defences, as well as new evidence. However, this flexibility of the appeal is not in conflict with the purpose of the remedy: the French civil appeal pursues the aim of completing, settling the dispute by “emptying it”. Despite the remarkable aim, the excessive elasticity of the procedure gave rise to distorting interpretations that extended its duration, so slowing down the appeal; therefore, the following part of the article analyses the attempted or achieved reforms, as a premise for evaluating the legal practitioners’ satisfaction. At the end, some de iure condendo reflections are proposed considering all the general principles that could characterize not only the appeal but also the whole French trial.