How is the company informed of the hearing date before a French Tribunal?
The company is most often informed of the hearing date by post, by receiving a “notice to victims (avis à victime)” (or “hearing notice to victims”) at the address of its registered office. Sometimes the company is informed by an email sent by the police or the gendarmerie that carried out the investigation.
The notice to victims contains the following essential information:
- date and time of the hearing
- division of the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire) that will hear the case
- how to join the proceedings as a civil party (partie civile) and thus claim damages
- the possibility of being assisted by a lawyer (a lawyer is not compulsory)
- the contact details of the criminal hearings office (the court department that manages the case until the hearing)
- the case number (known in legal jargon as the “prosecutor’s office number”, or numéro de Parquet)
What does it mean to be a civil party?
A victim becomes a civil party from the moment it informs the Court that it wishes to join the proceedings as a civil party, that is to say to be officially recognised as a victim.
The main advantage for a company of becoming a civil party is that it can ask the Court to order the offender to compensate the company.
How can the company become a civil party?
Joining the proceedings as a civil party can be done in writing at least 24 hours before the hearing. In that case, your letter (by post, fax or email) must reach the criminal hearings office at least 24 hours before the hearing for your claims to be taken into account (Article 420-1 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure). This letter, signed by the legal representative, must state that the company wishes to become a civil party and set out its claims for damages.
It can also be done in person at the court registry (greffe) before the hearing, or at the start of the hearing, by introducing yourself to the court clerk in the courtroom.
Please note: if you choose to join the proceedings at the hearing, you must come forward before the public prosecutor makes his or her submissions, otherwise it will be too late.
Your lawyer can also deal with joining the proceedings as a civil party, by filing written submissions (conclusions) or orally at the hearing itself.
Must a representative of the company attend the hearing?
This is not an obligation if you have sent your application to join the proceedings as a civil party to the Court at least 24 hours before the hearing date.
If you have not received an acknowledgement of receipt of your letter before the hearing, I strongly recommend that you call the Court to check that your application has been added to the file, because mistakes sometimes happen!
If a person from the company attends the hearing and is not the legal representative, that person must be able to give the Court a delegation of authority (délégation de pouvoir) showing that they have the power to represent the company before the Court.
Finally, a lawyer can represent your company’s interests before the Court and thus spare you from attending the hearing, while giving you the certainty that your interests will be defended and that the Court will have duly noted your claims.
How can you obtain a copy of the Court file?
On receipt of the notice to victims, you simply need to send a request to the criminal hearings office of the Court seised of the case, specifying clearly:
- the prosecutor’s office number
- the date of the hearing and
- the address to which the copy of the procedure can be sent
To avoid any difficulty, I recommend that you attach a copy of the notice to victims to your request.
Your lawyer can also obtain a copy of the file easily and often quickly thanks to the Ministry of Justice’s secure exchange platform (PLEX), which allows the Courts to send copies to lawyers.
How should the company’s losses be quantified?
Only losses that have a direct link with the facts for which the defendant has been sent to trial before the criminal court (tribunal correctionnel) can be compensated.
For example, an employee stole cash from their employer and a vehicle. They are sent to trial before the Court only for the theft of the vehicle. In that case, the company can claim only for the losses linked to the theft of the vehicle.
Your company may have suffered several types of loss, for example:
- losses incurred (example: the sum stolen, the replacement value of the stolen item)
- loss of profit (example: a vehicle belonging to a vehicle rental company is stolen; one of its losses is the loss of a chance to rent out the vehicle between the date of the theft and the date the vehicle is returned or put back into service)
- costs incurred to repair damage (example: the cost of repairing a vehicle returned damaged to a vehicle rental company)
- additional workload caused by the facts in order to deal with the matter internally
- non-material harm (préjudice moral)
- lawyer’s fees (Article 475-1 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure)
To maximise your chances of obtaining a favourable decision, it is strongly advisable, where possible, to attach to your claims supporting documents for the sums claimed, such as invoices and bank statements.
What should you do if the loss has not yet been quantified on the day of the hearing?
You can ask for the hearing to be postponed, which is called an adjournment (renvoi) (Article 464 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure).
A Court cannot refuse an adjournment requested by the civil party! In other words, if a civil party requests an adjournment, the Court may rule on the guilt and sentence of the offender and adjourn the case “on civil interests” to a later date, which will be communicated to you during the deliberation (délibéré).
In that case, it is still essential to join the proceedings as a civil party and to inform the Court that you are requesting an adjournment on civil interests so that you can quantify your company’s loss.
How does a hearing before the criminal court take place?
Here are the main stages of a case called before a criminal court:
- The defendant is invited to the bar so that his or her identity can be checked and he or she can be informed of his or her rights, and the victims are called
- One of the three judges summarises the facts and the procedure
- Hearing of the defendant, then of any witnesses
- Possible hearings of the victims and the witnesses
- Pleadings of the civil parties
- Submissions of the public prosecutor (procureur de la République)
- Pleading of the defendant’s lawyer
- Decision of the court on the day of the hearing or on a date set by the Court on the day of the hearing
What happens if the offender is absent from the hearing?
In certain circumstances, and in particular if the offender was notified of the hearing date but did not attend, the Court may try the case in his or her absence.
How can you challenge a criminal court decision?
You can lodge an appeal within 10 working days of the hearing, by going to the Court or by asking your lawyer. If the 10th day falls on a weekend or a public holiday, it is postponed to the next working day.
However, the civil party can appeal only on the damages. It cannot appeal on the public action (action publique), that is to say on the defendant’s guilt and sentence.
Why instruct a criminal law lawyer?
A lawyer will help you prepare your file to give you every chance of obtaining the fairest possible order for compensation for your company:
- determining the supporting documents to be provided,
- quantifying the company’s losses
- drafting the written submissions (a summary of your claims)
- representing the company at the hearing
- assistance in obtaining enforcement of the decision
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