Abstract

The amendment of the Code Civil Procedure of 4 July 2019 introduced a new remedy, notably a horizontal complaint against decisions of a court of first instance. As a consequence, some of those complaints are now horizontal (referred to another bench of the same court) and others are devolutive (referred to a higher court). However, in many cases, particularly in non-contentious proceedings, the legislator failed to specify the nature of a given complaint. The Supreme Court decisions tend to present the view that complaints in such cases are devolutive. It is held that in the absence of an explicit regulation stating otherwise, it is still possible to file a complaint against a decision of a court of first instance to the court of second instance.