Enforceable title, family law, liquid claim, determinable claim, Court of Cassation, forced execution, creditor rights, jurisprudence, civil procedure
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Abstract
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Abstract
The Court of Cassation's decision on the characterization of an enforceable title in family law matters, particularly regarding the division of costs for children's education.
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[...] CEDH Hornby v. Greece : On the notion of a fair trial (Art 6 ECHR), the enforcement of judgments is a component of the right to a fair trial - Recognizing the executory character of the judgment in favor of the applicant enables the proper enforcement of judgments and confers full effectiveness on them. What would be the utility of a divorce judgment providing for the allocation of costs related to children that could not be enforced? - This solution from the Court of Cassation in family law is pragmatic as the amount of school fees is the subject of important jurisprudence that easily allows them to be defined, which guarantees predictability and legal security * The consolidation of the recognized executory title - Emmanuel Jeuland: the executory title not only certifies but also consolidates the claim. [...]
[...] Conditions for the executory force of a judgment 1. Executory formula (material condition provided for in Article 502 of the Civil Procedure Code) 2. Meaning of the judgment to the losing party (extinction of avenues of appeal) the decision is therefore passed in force of thing judgedIn this case : On finds oneself in the presence of a divorce judgment considered by the plaintiff as the executory title in the disputed seizure-assignment, but contested by the defendant. Response of the Court of Appeal: 'the claim for school fees, extra-curricular and exceptional expenses as established by the non-conciliation order of November and the divorce judgment of June in her favor is not liquid.' Consequently, 'the seizure-assignment practiced cannot therefore have as its object the recovery of this claim.' * Enjeux of establishing an executory title: a procedure a priori objective without taking into account the person of the creditor or the debtor. [...]
[...] The Court first recalls that it is the creditor holding an enforceable title who must pursue forced execution against their defaulting debtor, while respecting the legal conditions of the measures taken. In a second instance, the Court reiterates the textual definition of a liquid claim that must be "evaluated in money", or failing that, the title must contain all the elements necessary to evaluate it. In this sense, by referring to the decisions of first instance, the High Jurisdiction finds that the litigious expenses should have been shared by half between the parents. [...]
[...] - This definition of liquidity does not imply that the amount of the claim is quantified. - Before the legal definition: the Court of Cassation has ruled in the matter of real estate seizure, according to which « the liquid character of a claim does not imply that the exact amount of the sums for which the seizure is being pursued are subject to a prior liquidation before the sale » (Civ. 2nd, Feb no. 92-19.774, JCP 1994. IV. 1125). [...]
[...] Court of Cassation, Civil Chamber September 2025, No. 22-24.484 - A decision on the division of costs - without specifying a ceiling or control of the amounts incurred - is it or is it not a title of execution certifying a liquid and determinable claim? [...]
