Appeal a civil or criminal judgment
Verified 21 October 2025 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice
Do you want to challenge a decision in a civil or criminal case? You can appeal. The case is then reviewed and retried by the Court of Appeal. We present you the information to know.
Civil judgment
A decision can be appealed when these two conditions are met :
- It decided the dispute or certain points of the dispute, that is to say, whether the judge responded to the requests by granting them or not
- She is rendered in first spring.
When the decision is rendered in last resort, the call is not possible. This is the case for disputes whose amount is less than €5,000. The only possible remedy is then appeal in cassation.
FYI
Remedies and procedures are always indicated in the act of meaning of the decision by the commissioner of justice or the notification through the transplant.
All parties at trial have the opportunity to call, applicant like defendant.
This right may be exercised by one party or by all parties.
In graceful matter (i.e. cases where there is no adversary such as adoption), this right belongs to the person concerned by the decision or by the persons to whom the judgment was handed down notified. The public prosecutor may also appeal against such decisions.
The time limit for appeal is1 month for civil judgments.
However, this time limit is reduced for some decisions.
It is from 15 days in the following situations:
- In matters relating to gratis (adoption, change of matrimonial property regime, guardianship for example)
- Interim orders or in the form of interim measures
- Interim Measures Orders in matters of divorce
- Prescriptions of preconditioning or judgments during preconditioning
- Decisions of the enforcement judge
- Orders to Reject query.
It is from 10 days in the case of administration or liquidation.
The appeal period is increased by 1 month for the part that remains in overseas when the decision was made in metropolitan france. The same applies to decisions taken overseas for the person residing in metropolitan France.
The appeal period is increased by 2 months for the person residing abroad.
The call delay begins from meaning the decision of a commissioner of justice, notification by the graft or from the date of the decision at a public hearing.
The appeal is declared inadmissible if the deadlines have not been met. The case is not reviewed by the Court of Appeal.
Warning
If the judgment is not notified within the two-year period of its pronouncement, the party who appeared cannot appeal.
If you want to benefit from thelegal aid to appeal, you must file this application during the appeal period. This request will have the effect ofinterrupt the time limit to appeal. A new time limit, of the same duration as the initial time limit, will start running again from the final decision to admit or reject legal aid.
Representation by lawyer is mandatory.
However, there are exceptions for the following procedures:
- Protection of adults (guardianship, curatorship, family empowerment...)
- Litigation prud'homal (representation can be provided by a union advocate)
- Over-indebtedness
- Placement of a child by the Children's Judge
- Delegation of parental authority
- Case under the Joint Rural Leases Tribunal
- Social pole case (social security, incapacity...).
If you want to be assisted by a lawyer but your resources are insufficient to pay his fees, you can benefit from legal aid.
You must make this request, even if you are receiving legal aid during the first instance.
FYI
Before the court of appeal, you can call on a lawyer other than the one you had in the first instance.
The procedure is not the same depending on whether the use of a lawyer to appeal the decision is mandatory or not:
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General case
The lawyer is mandatory to appeal. He is responsible for the process.
The statement of appeal is made at the registry of the court of appeal, together with a copy of the contested decision.
FYI
It is possible to appeal the entire decision or limit call certain provisions of the judgment. The statement of appeal must specify all the points of the decision being criticized.
Procedure without lawyer
General case
When the procedure does not require you to hire a lawyer, you can fill out the cerfa form n°15774.
Declaration of civil appeal (without mandatory representation)
The declaration must be made at the registry of the court of appeal from jurisdiction of the court that made the decision. The Court of Appeal may be located in another city that the court (for example: for a judgment delivered by the Lille court of justice, the Douai court of appeal has jurisdiction).
FYI
Remedies and procedures are always indicated in the act of meaning by Commissioner of Justice or the notification through the transplant.
Guardianship, curatorship, family empowerment...
To appeal in these proceedings, you can fill in the cerfa form n°15774.
The lawyer is not required.
Declaration of civil appeal (without mandatory representation)
The declaration must be made to the registry of the protection litigation judge who made the decision.
Who shall I contact
FYI
Remedies and procedures are always indicated in the act of meaning by Commissioner of Justice or the notification through the transplant.
In proceedings where thelawyer is mandatory, they may take place without hearing at the request of counsel for the parties. The public prosecutorwhen it intervenes, it must give its consent.
The Court of Appeal judge again the points mentioned in the statement of appeal.
The Court of Appeal issues a stop which confirms or overturns the first decision.
She can confirm partially or totally the decision of the court.
She can deny partially or totally (i.e. annul) the decision of the first judges.
A new application cannot be submitted to the Court of Appeal unless the new application is the consequence or complement of the original application.
In the event of an appeal, the principle is that decision rendered by the first judge is enforceable by provision unless otherwise provided by the decision or law.
This means that the judgment must be executed, even if there is an appeal of the decision.
It is possible to request by interim relief to the first president of the court of appeal of suspend provisional execution if this leads to manifestly excessive consequences for the sentenced party.
FYI
In case of abusive appeal (e.g. in order to delay the execution of the judgment), you may be fined up to €10,000 and to pay damages to the other party.
If you feel that a rule of law has not been correctly applied or that the procedure has not been followed, you can make a appeal in cassation.
The appeal in cassation does not prevent the execution of the decision.
Who shall I contact
All parties to an appeal proceedings must pay a tax stamp in the amount of €225 where the use of a lawyer is compulsory.
This electronic tax stamp can be purchased online.
FYI
Beneficiaries of legal aid are exempt from this stamp.
The parties must also pay the fees of their lawyer. Other costs may be added, such as court commissioner's fees or expert's fees, for example.
Criminal judgment
All decisions handed down by criminal courts may be appealed:
- Police Court for decisions rendered for tickets of 5e class, decisions imposing a penalty of suspension of a driving license, decisions imposing a fine of more than €150
- Correctional Court
- Assize Court or Criminal Court
- Investigating Judge
- Judge of application of sentences
- judge of liberty and detention.
The appeal may relate to the whole or on a part of the decision.
FYI
If the decision was made by defect (i.e. when the defendant is absent and has not been informed of his summons), the remedy is the opposition. The case will then be retried by the court that issued the decision.
All parties at trial have the opportunity to call :
- Defendant or defendant (in the case of a judgment of the court of assizes or a criminal court)
- Person civilly responsible
- Civil party
- Prosecutor of the Republic
- Public administrations exercising public action (e.g. customs)
- Attorney General at the Court of Appeal.
This right may be exercised by one party or by all parties.
FYI
The person civilly responsible and the civil party may appeal the decision only on the civil interests.
The time limit for appeal is 10 days.
The deadline shall be counting pronouncement from the decision to the hearing.
If the parties were neither present nor represented by a lawyer at the hearing, the period shall run from meaning of the decision.
FYI
In the event of an appeal by one of the parties within the 10-day period, the other parties have a additional 5 days to appeal.
A lawyer is not required to appeal a criminal decision. You you can show up alone before the court of appeal.
FYI
If you want to be assisted by a lawyer but your resources are insufficient to pay his fees, you can benefit from legal aid. You must make the request during the appeal period, this request will have the effect of interrupting the period. A new time limit, of the same duration as the initial time limit, will start to run from the final decision to admit or reject legal aid.
The appeal shall be brought by declaration to registry of the court, the court of assizes or the criminal court which issued the decision (or the registry of the prison if the person is detained).
Who shall I contact
The declaration must be signed by the Registrar and the Appellant, his lawyer or a special power of attorney with a power.
Reminder
The lawyer is not required to appeal.
The convicted person may appeal against all convictions civil and criminal or limit his call only civil convictions or only criminal convictions.
The civil party and the civilly responsible may appeal only of civil convictions of judgment. They can't appeal the relaxed or the penalty imposed on the perpetrator.
The public prosecutor or the public prosecutor may appeal only of criminal convictions of the decision.
The effects of the appeal differ depending on whether the appeal concerns criminal convictions, civil convictions or the entire decision.
A criminal conviction can be a prison sentence, a community service...
A civil conviction can be a fine to be paid to the Treasury, civil interests to be paid to civil party as damages to repair his damage...
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Appeal concerning criminal conviction only
Where the appeal relates only to the criminal conviction, the sentence shall not be carried out.
FYI
The person imprisoned before his trial before a court of assizes or a criminal court is kept in detention for the duration of the appeal.
A person sentenced to imprisonment who was free before his trial before a court of assizes or a criminal court may be incarcerated. The court may award a warrant of committal whether there are grounds for a particular security measure (e.g. risk of absconding of the convicted person).
The Court of Appeal shall rehear the case and makes a stop which confirms or overturns the first decision.
She can confirm the decision of the first judges. The sentence that applies then is the one pronounced in the judgment.
She can deny (i.e. set aside) the decision of the first judges and impose another sentence or the relaxed.
If the judgment has ordered the defendant to pay damages, the the civil party may enforce the judgment and recover the sums allocated to it.
FYI
If the the prosecutor did not appeal of the decision, the court of appeal may not impose a higher sentence that which was pronounced in the judgment under appeal. If the person is detained, the detention may be maintained by reasoned decision.
Civil Interest Appeal
Where the appeal relates only to civil interests, the Court of Appeal does not retry the criminal conviction.
The enforcement of the judgment on civil interests is suspended. The civil party can retrieve the damages only if the decision specifies that it is enforceable by provision.
In the event of implementation of 1er judgment and conviction on appeal lesser damages, the civil party must repay the overpayment.
The civil party can't make new requests in the court of appeal, but she can reassess the amount of money which she claims.
FYI
It is possible to request by interim relief to the first president of the court of appeal of suspend provisional execution whether it is likely to lead to manifestly excessive consequences.
Similarly, where provisional execution has been refused or not requested, it may be granted, in the event of an appeal, by the first president acting in interim proceedings.
Appeal on the whole decision
The Court of Appeal reconsidered all the provisions of the judgment.
She can confirm the decision of the first judges.
She can deny (i.e. set aside) the decision of the first judges.
The the civil party may enforce the judgment and recover the sums allocated to it if the decision provides theprovisional execution of this one.
It is possible to request by interim relief to the first president of the court of appeal of suspend provisional execution whether it is likely to lead to manifestly excessive consequences.
Where provisional execution has been refused or has not been requested, it shall may be granted, in the event of an appeal, by the first president ruling in interim proceedings.
FYI
If the the prosecutor did not appeal of the decision, the court of appeal may not impose a higher sentence than the judgment under appeal.
It is possible to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal by appeal in cassation.
Magistrates of the Court of Cassation do not retry the case, but check that the law has been applied or that the procedure has been followed.
The procedure is free.
If the parties are assisted or represented by a lawyer, they must pay their fees. Other costs may be added, such as expertise costs.
The convicted person must comply with fixed procedural rights (€338). These rights are due even if legal aid has been granted.
Who can help me?
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Administrative information by phone - Allô Service Public
For more information on this subject, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and therefore cannot provide information on their progress.
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The informants who answer you belong to the Department of Justice.
Application for a decision to be discontinued Article 524
Provisions common to the appeal
Extension of time limit for appeal by the 1st President of the Court of Appeal Article 540
Principles of appeals in civil matters
Calculation of time limits in civil matters
The pretrial judge
Representation by counsel
Declaration of Appeal in Civil Matters
Appeal procedure without a lawyer
Article 963 tax stamp
Persons entitled to appeal against a judgment of assizes
Form of appeal for a judgment of assizes
Territorial jurisdiction
Persons entitled to appeal a correctional judgment
Proceedings before the Correctional Appeals Chamber
Appeal of police judgments
Civil registration fees
Fixed rights of criminal procedure
Suspension of the time limit for appeal in the event of a request for legal aid (Article 43)
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