Unlock the nuances of commercial law as it applies to maritime fishing activities. Discover how the Court of Cassation's ruling on the status of fishing boat owners as merchants impacts jurisdiction and contractual obligations. Understand the conditions for being considered a merchant under French law, including the necessity of exercising commercial acts as a habitual profession. Learn how commercial acts are defined and enumerated in the Commercial Code, and how they differ from civil acts. Explore the implications of this distinction on territorial competence and the applicable law in commercial disputes. Dive into the specifics of maritime fishing activities and their classification as commercial acts, and gain insight into the legal framework governing commercial law in France. Read the full document to grasp the complexities of commercial law and its applications.
Extract
[...] In addition, the list of these articles is not exclusive. In fact, Article L. 931-1 of the Rural and Maritime Fisheries Code provides that 'any maritime fishing activity practiced professionally, on board a ship and with a view to the commercialization of products, is considered commercial, except when it is exercised individually on ships of a length of twelve meters or less or making habitual departures of less than twenty-four hours'. This rule is derived from Article 633 of the Commercial Code of 1807. [...]
[...] The Court of Cassation had the opportunity to recall and apply this criterion regarding the shipowner-boatmen by censoring an earlier decision of the Court of Rouen (Com May 1985). The present judgment goes in the same direction for the fishing boat owners. There is then no more equivocation. The maritime expedition is commercial only if it satisfies the general criteria of commerciality. This had already been judged for the criterion of profitable purpose with regard to pleasure boating (Com Dec. 1965). [...]
[...] 110-2 of the Commercial Code. In practice, these are commercial acts by nature, that is to say that it is not the quality of their author that gives them a commercial nature. The most characteristic example is the purchase for resale of Article L. 110- as previously mentioned. Therefore, the sole accomplishment of commercial acts by form, such as the issuance of letters of exchange (C. com., art. L. 110-10) or the constitution of commercial companies by form (art. L. [...]
[...] In a dispute over defective operation of this equipment, the selling company opposed them with a clause attributing territorial jurisdiction. They contested its validity on the grounds that they did not have merchant status. To recognize it to them, the Rouen Court of Appeal had retained that, "whatever the extent of their activity as fishing boat owners, simple fishermen selling fish taken from the sea, or industrial fishermen processing and packaging the fruits of fishing before selling them, they habitually carried out maritime expeditions, all of which were deemed commercial acts by Article 633 of the Commercial Code". [...]
[...] Commercial acts and merchants can therefore be approached together through the idea of profession or business. In this case, the major effect of the Court of Cassation's failure to recognize the quality of merchant to these fishing boat owners is that the territorial competence clause is not applicable to them, so that the Commercial Court of Marseille was not competent because the defendants were not merchants (art 48 CPC), the competent jurisdiction will then be that of the defendant's domicile (art 42 CPC). [...]
