The Tribunal de grande instance, of which there are 175 throughout France, has jurisdiction over all matters exceeding the jurisdictional threshold of the Tribunal d’instance and which have not been specifically allocated to another court. The Tribunal de grande instance has two divisions: the chamber civil and the chambre correctional. The former has general jurisdiction over any private law matter except those specifically allocated to special courts – for example, commercial and employment-related disputes. However, it enjoys exclusive jurisdiction over a variety of issues, such as marriage, divorce and separation, patents, land, and road accidents. Cases are heard by three judges who deliver a collective judgment. Unlike the decisions of English courts, there are no dissenting judgments. When exercising its criminal jurisdiction, the Tribunal de grande instance deals with major offences (delits). The court normally consists of three judges. Appeals in both civil and criminal matters lie to the Cour d’appel.
COURTS OF SPECIAL JURISDICTION
TRIBUNAL DE COMMERCE (COMMERCIAL COURT)
There are approximately 200 commercial courts throughout France. They exercise jurisdiction over commercial disputes and bankruptcies involving merchants and commercial entities. They are staffed by lay judges who must be over thirty years of age and have been engaged in business for at least five years. Judges are elected for terms of two years by and from among businessmen and women whose names appear on the local commercial register. Disputes involving less than.1300 are final; otherwise appeal lies to the Cour d’appel.
CONSEIL DE PRUD’HOMMES (LABOUR COURT)
Individual disputes arising between employer and employee are brought before one of the 300 labour courts. As with the commercial court, the labour court is staffed by lay judges elected from the ranks of local employers and employees. A court consists of four judges, with employers and employees being represented equally.
TRIBUNAL DES AFFAIRES DE SECURITE SOCIALE (SOCIAL SECURITY COURT)
This court deals with disputes arising out of the social security system. It consists of a judge of the local Tribunal de grande instance and one employer and one employee representative.
COUR D’APPEL
There are thirty Cours d’appel situated throughout the country, each hearing appeals for the courts of first instance described above. An appeal involves a complete re-hearing of the case and the court can substitute its view of either facts or law for that of the lower court. To accommodate the wide variety and often specialised subject matter of appeals, each Cour d’appel is divided into a number
of divisions or ‘ chambres ’. In addition to those chambers dealing with general civil and criminal appeals, there are specialist chambres responsible for hearing appeals from labourcourts and social security courts.
COUR DE CASSATION
The Cour de cassation is the highest court in France for nonadministrative appeals. Situated in Paris, the court, strictly speaking, is not a court of appeal. Its principal function is to ensure that the law is interpreted uniformly throughout the country and to this end restricts itself to reviewing findings of law, not fact. It can only quash a decision of a lower court of which it disapproves. Unlike a Cour d’appel, it cannot substitute its own decision. The only recourse to the Cour de cassation is on the basis that the judgment of the court below reveals a ‘ violation de la loi ’, i.e. an incorrect foundation of law. Where the Cour de cassation finds this to have happened, the case is remitted for further consideration not to the original court but to another court of equal jurisdiction. This court is not bound by the view of the Cour de cassation and if it takes the same view of the law as the original court, the matter is referred to the ‘ Assemblee pleniere ’ of the Cour de cassation, where all five chambers of the court are represented. If the issues are the same as in the original hearing, the Assemblee can enter a final judgment, otherwise the case is remitted to a third court of equal jurisdiction to the original court. This court is bound to apply the law as stated by the Cour de cassation. Finally, it should be noted that, unlike decisions of the House of Lords, judgments of the Cour de cassation are not binding on courts hearing similar cases in the future. However, a court which fails to apply the law as declared by the Cour de cassation runs the risk of having its decision appealed and successive judgments of the Cour de cassation affirming a particular point of view will be strong persuasive evidence of the law and its correct interpretation.
GERMANY
As compared with the English court system and even that of France, the system found in Germany places great emphasis on courts of special jurisdiction. Thus, alongside the ordinary courts (Ordentliche Gerichte) there exist a variety of specialist courts, each having its own separate appeal structure, culminating in a court of last resort. These courts are: revenue or finance courts (Finanzgerichte); administrative courts (Verwaltungsgerichte); labour courts (Arbeitsgerichte); and social security courts (Sozialgerichte). The ordinary courts handle the bulk of the legal work in Germany and comprise the largest hierarchy. A brief overview of the courts found in this system follows.