Although as a sovereign state the Principality of Monaco has created its own legal system, this is somewhat influenced by the French legal system and is widely based on Roman law and the Napoleonic Code. In this respect, some important parts of Monegasque law are inspired by French law.

Monegasque civil procedures follow an adversarial model and are conducted mostly through written submissions.

Monegasque criminal procedures follow an inquisitorial model in the investigative phase and an adversarial process in the phase of judgment. They are mostly oral and supported by written submissions.

Monaco is both a city and a state, and the judicial courts are concentrated in the Palais de Justice de Monaco.

In terms of judicial organisation, Monaco has three levels of civil jurisdiction, as follows.

The first degree comprises:

• the Justice of the Peace, which deals with claims of up to EUR10,000;
• the First Instance Tribunal, which is competent to rule on civil and commercial litigation and on certain areas of administrative disputes involving the state or public organisms, for claims over EUR10,000;
• the Employment Tribunal, which is competent for disputes related to employment contracts; and
• the Commercial Lease Arbitral Commission and the Rents Arbitral Commission.

The second degree comprises the Court of Appeal, which has general jurisdiction over appeals.

The Court of Revision acts as a cassation jurisdiction; its role is to ensure that the decisions of lower-degree jurisdictions apply the law correctly. Although not a third-degree jurisdiction, owing to the particular judicial organisation in Monaco, the Court of Revision becomes a third-degree jurisdiction when, after having set aside a decision of a lower jurisdiction, the Court refers the relevant case to itself (composed differently) to retry it definitively both in fact and in law.

Proceedings are mostly open to the public, except where the law finds that the debates must be in chambers (Article 849 of the Code of Civil Procedure) and mainly for cases heard by a single judge such as the conciliating judge (first part of divorce proceedings) or the guardianship judge (juge tutélaire), who deals with minors or majors under protection.

The court filings and submissions, even in public hearings, go to the opponent and the judge(s). They are not publicly accessible.

Before the First Instance Tribunal, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Revision, the parties are represented by an avocat-défenseur registered at the Monaco Bar.

Foreign lawyers cannot conduct proceedings under their own name before the Monegasque courts; however, they can be represented by an avocat-défenseur and follow the Monegasque proceedings, and may even be admitted to give oral arguments before the judge, under the judge’s authorisation.

Monegasque law does not have a framework for litigation funding. Since no rule is defined by Monegasque law, nothing would seem to forbid a party from seeking funding to enable it to initiate proceedings.

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The usual pre-action conduct involves sending a registered notice letter to the opponent to summon them before issuing a legal action. This is more from a customary standpoint than as a legal requirement.

The statutes of limitations applying to civil suits were heavily amended in 2013. The time limitation period depends on the action to initiate.

Actions in rem and personal actions shall be barred after five years from the date on which the holder of a right knew or ought to have known the facts enabling them to exercise it.

An action brought by the direct or indirect victim of injury resulting from an event causing bodily harm shall be barred after ten years from the date of consolidation of the initial or aggravated injury.

The private international rules for jurisdiction are set out in the Code of Private International Law.

Generally, on jurisdiction, Monegasque courts are competent where the defendant has its domicile or its residence in Monaco.

Monegasque courts are also competent:

• in real estate matters where the real estate is in the Principality;
• in tort matters where the act causing the damage, or the damage itself, occurred in the Principality;
• in estate matters where the estate is opened in the Principality;
• in company matters, where the company has its headquarters in the Principality;
• in forced execution matters or in freezing cases enforced in the Principality, or as regards any provisory measures, even if Monegasque courts are not competent on the merits; and
• for any enforcement of a foreign judgment.

The initial complaint is drafted in the form of a written summons (assignation), which is a legal brief that contains the following.

• The identity and the address of the claimant and of the defendant(s).
• An indication of the court that is to hear the claim.
• The date and time of the appearance.
• The subject matter of the claim and a summary of its legal grounds.
• An indication of the documents on which the application is based. A list of the exhibits and their numbers must accompany the writ of summons.
• An indication that the parties must reiterate, in summary submissions, the claims and pleas presented or relied on in their successive submissions.
• An indication of the procedure for appearing before the Court of First Instance, and an indication that, if the defendant fails to appear, they are liable to have judgment given against them, based solely on the information submitted to the proceedings by the plaintiff.

This summons is served on the opponent by a bailiff, who issues a statement mentioning the ways of service of the document.

A party is permitted to amend the document after it has been filed – notably, to bring an incidental claim, provided it is sufficiently connected to the main claim.

The plaintiff is responsible for service on the opponent. The plaintiff appoints a bailiff (who is a public officer) who carries out the service of the summons on the opponent:

• they can receive the document in person, or through a proxy;
• if they are not at their domicile and if nobody can receive the document, but if their address is confirmed, the bailiff then files the documents at the city hall and leaves a registered notice letter informing them that they can pick up the summons there; or
• if they are nowhere to be found, and if their address cannot be confirmed, the service is then made on the Prosecutor General.

A party can be sued outside Monaco; in such case, the summons is translated into the language of the recipient’s country and the bailiff serves the court summons to the Prosecutor General, who will liaise with the competent services in the country of destination for service on the opponent.

The judge verifies the validity of the service made on the opponent; if they do not show up, the judge may ask the claimant to carry out the service again.

Once the judge is convinced that the service is valid, they will render a decision by default, solely on the arguments raised by the claimant.

Monegasque law does not have a framework for class actions.

There are no legal requirements per se. However, the provisions of contractual law on good faith and transparency regarding clients who must express informed consent require that, before contracting, the client be made aware (at minimum) of the conditions for billing and of an estimate for the overall costs, even if in litigation matters it is more difficult to anticipate the opponent’s moves and the corresponding final costs for the client.

Before the trial on the merits, it is possible to make prior applications – for instance, aiming to discover evidence (such as disclosure orders allowing the sending of a bailiff to retrieve evidence from third parties on condition of demonstrating legitimate interest) and to freeze assets. This leads to ex parte orders that are granted by the President of the First Instance Court within a few weeks.

Once the trial has been initiated, one party can make an interim application with the court if an urgent matter arises that requires a pretrial decision (after an adversarial debate), such as the granting of a provisional remedy in an emergency or a sentencing to communicate a document under a daily fine. This leads to a judgment being rendered within several months.

A party can ask for early judgment if it raised exceptions (such as a jurisdictional issue, nullity, time bar issue, inadmissibility) and if it wants the court to rule on these before any substantive hearing.

If the court agrees, despite possible opposition from the other party, an early hearing on these exceptions and early judgment can be obtained.

This judgment can end the procedure if it rules in favour of incompetence of the court, a nullity of the summons or a time bar.

There is no written procedure for this – it is only customary.

Except as discussed in 4.2 Early Judgment Applications, the case continues until its conclusion before the court. The parties exchange writing and exhibits back and forth; when the judge finds that the case is ready to be tried, they set the final hearing for the oral arguments of the parties.

Interested parties may voluntarily join the proceedings via written pleadings filed with the court and communicated to the parties.

All parties may also call a third person to guarantee their being in the proceedings, by way of a summons that is joined with the main case.

There is no such security for a defendant’s costs under Monegasque law.

However, please note that, in divorce proceedings specifically, the parties can ask for provisional measures, such as an advance on legal costs from their opponent.

Also, please note that in all cases the final decision rendered (upon the parties’ requests) grants a financial contribution for the winning party for its lawyers’ fees and costs, though this does not occur prior to the case.

If the interim motion is issued in the form of an ex parte application, either there is no provision on the costs or, if there is, the cost award is postponed to the end of the main trial.

As mentioned in 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs, if the interim motion is issued pending trial, the judge grants an indemnity to the winning party that is a mere contribution to lawyers’ fees and costs.

Please refer to 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions.

Apart from the disclosure application referred to in 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions, certain forms of discovery are discussed in Articles 300 et seq of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Article 300 states that if, before any trial, there is a legitimate reason to preserve or establish proof of facts on which the outcome of a dispute may depend, legally admissible investigative measures may be ordered at the request of any interested party, on ex parte application, when the circumstances require that the measure not be taken in adversarial proceedings, or in summary proceedings.

Admissible investigative measures may include obtaining evidence held by future opponents or third parties. The enforcement of these measures is supervised by the court.

Other legal provisions in the following articles also fall under the powers of the judge.

• Article 309 (des verifications personnelles du juge): the court shall make any observations, evaluations, assessments or reconstructions it deems necessary, visiting the premises, if necessary, with the parties present or summoned. It shall also gather all evidence likely to enlighten it and shall hear such people as it sees fit for information purposes.
• Article 312 (interrogatoire des parties) of the Code of Civil Procedure: the court may, in any matter, examine the parties or some of them on the facts of the case. It may decide that the examination shall take place before one of its members.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, these provisions have never been applied.

Article 324 states that the parties can provide the court with third parties’ witness statements, obtained either from witness statements given to the court or through an inquiry. The authors are unaware of any inquiry having been performed by a civil judge.

Discovery from third parties is possible through a disclosure application, as stated in 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions and 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases.

Monaco is based on a Roman law system, with adversarial civil procedures. The authors are unaware of matters relating to cross-examination, private enquiries or the calling of witnesses in civil procedures.

Parties must prove the facts they allege by way of external evidence – ie, a party cannot give testimony regarding its own account. Proof is shown by corroborating witness statement or with documents. There are strict rules regarding witness statements.

Please see 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases to 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction.

Monaco recognises legal privilege in the form of professional secrecy (secret professionnel), violation of which is criminally sanctioned by Article 308 of the Criminal Code with six months to one year imprisonment and/or a fine from EUR9,000 to EUR18,000. Such violation can also give rise to professional sanctions.

Legal privilege in Monaco protects attorneys registered at the Monaco Bar (avocats and avocats-défenseurs). It does not protect in-house counsel correspondences.

The protection of banking or professional secrecy under Article 308 of the Criminal Code prohibits a person from disclosing any information in civil proceedings, even with an order from a court.

Injunctive relief may be awarded if the applicant can demonstrate that the measure is justified to prevent imminent damage or to stop an obviously unlawful disturbance. There are various injunctions, such as prohibiting the use/disclosure of a document, sale of an asset and removal of information.

Moreover, and subject to proving a certain principle of a claim, an applicant can ask for various seizures (regarding real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, yachts, goodwill, shares of a company, etc).

The obtention of injunctive relief depends on the degree of emergency with the case and the adversarial or ex parte nature of the proceedings. In adversarial proceedings, a decision is usually obtained between a few weeks and a few months. With an ex parte request, a decision can usually be expected between a few days and two weeks.

In the case of severe emergency, the President of the Court of First Instance may authorise summoning on an atypical day or time – eg, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

Injunctive relief can be obtained on an ex parte basis.

In principle, there is no liability for damages for having initiated a lawsuit, except in the case of abuse of procedure.

If a seizure is subsequently withdrawn, the applicant may be required to pay a proportional fee corresponding to a percentage of the seizure (from 4% as the lowest amount to 0.4% for sums above EUR23,000). 

In any case, there is no requirement to provide any security.

In theory, injunctive relief cannot be granted against worldwide assets of the respondent. However, worldwide movable assets can be seized if located in Monaco (eg, yachts or cars).

Nothing prohibits the issuance of injunctive relief against a third party.

The applicant mandates a bailiff to execute the injunction. There are no sanctions such as for contempt of court. However, in the specific case of a freezing order, the seized third party (eg, a bank) is bound to make various statements to the claimant, and, on failing to do so, could be held liable for the principal.

First, a summons is served to the adversary by a Monegasque bailiff. Then, at the first hearing, the defendant’s lawyer informs the court that they represent the defendant, and a new hearing is scheduled by the judge for the defendant to file their written pleadings in response.

The parties may exchange a few written pleadings until the judge sets a date for oral pleadings.

See 7.1 Trial Proceedings.

Jury trials are not available in civil cases.

The filed evidence must have been obtained fairly and be communicated to the court and all the parties involved in the proceedings. If in a foreign language, it must be accompanied by a French translation.

The court can seek expert testimony upon request from a party or on its own initiative.

In principle, hearings are open to the public (see 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings for the exceptions). However, transcripts of hearings remain confidential unless requested by a lawyer representing a party involved in the proceedings.

The judge sets the calendar, and ensures that no party uses delaying tactics and that the debates are led respectfully. At the pleadings hearing, they may ask some questions for further clarification, though Monegasque judges do not typically intervene much.

Proceedings on the merits usually take eight to 18 months in first instance (likewise for appeals), and six months before a court of revision.

Of course, these delays can be considerably lengthened depending on the number of parties, the complexity of the dispute and the parties’ strategy.

Court approval is not required to settle a lawsuit.

The settlement of a lawsuit can remain confidential.

This is subject to the parties’ will. Settlement agreements generally provide that, if a party does not execute its obligations, the counterparty can initiate a lawsuit before Monegasque courts based on contractual liability.

As a settlement is a contract, it may be set aside if contractual conditions of validity are not met (ie, incapacity, fraud, illegality, etc). Also, the settlement agreement must provide for reciprocal concessions as a condition of validity.

If the conditions for the validity of the settlement agreement are not met, the settlement could be declared null and void by a judge, and therefore be set aside.

The party who succumbs is usually required to pay its opponent the following.

• Court costs (dépens).
• Some of the lawyer’s fees. In practice, parties ask for a lump sum, though Monegasque judges often reduce the amount – thus this very rarely covers the entire lawyer’s fees. Depending on the stakes, in practice this is between EUR5,000 and EUR50,000.

The judge may also decide to order each party to bear its own costs and expenses for the proceedings.

There are no punitive damages in Monaco. The limit for damages lies with the integral indemnification of the injured party.

A party cannot be awarded more money than the equivalent of its total prejudice, as defined by the court.

The judgment may order the payment and accrued interests. In this case, the judge decides on the starting point of interests (the receipt of a formal notice prior to the judicial procedure, the summons, the judgment or a post-judgment date).

Monegasque judgments are served by bailiff, who may proceed to enforcement measures once the judgment is enforceable.

A Monegasque judge may impose a penalty to encourage the condemned party to fulfil its obligation as quickly as possible.

Even if not provided by the judgment, if the condemned party does not execute the judgment within the delay, the victorious party can go back to court and ask for judicial penalty payment.

Foreign judgments must be recognised by Monegasque courts before being enforceable in Monaco. The courts do not rule on the merits of the case, and only check the following conditions as per Monaco’s Code on Private International Law:

• that the judgment has been ruled by a competent jurisdiction;
• that the rights of defence have been respected;
• that the recognition of the judgment is not manifestly contrary to Monegasque public policy;
• that the judgment is not contrary to another decision previously ruled in Monaco between the same parties (this includes a previous foreign judgment already recognised in Monaco); and
• that a dispute is not currently pending before a Monegasque court (seized first) between the same parties.

For civil and commercial matters, the main mechanisms of review are:

• appeal (appel);
• opposition by a third party (tierce opposition) – ie, a review mechanism for third parties regarding a judgment that is prejudicial to their rights; and
• request for review (pourvoi en revision) – ie, a review mechanism on matters concerning breaches of the law that can generally be lodged against any decision rendered at last instance and having the force of res judicata.

An appeal may be lodged by a party against judgments given at first instance. An appeal should be lodged:

• to the Court of Appeal (Cour d’Appel) for judgments handed down at first instance by the First Instance Tribunal (Tribunal de Première Instance) and against judgments given at first instance by the Justice of the Peace (Juge de Paix); and
• before the Court of First Instance, for arbitration awards in civil matters and for judgments reserved to it by law.

For civil and commercial matters, an appeal is lodged by the appellant’s counsel by declaration to the court registry.

The time limit for lodging an appeal is 30 days from the date of service of the judgment, unless the law provides otherwise.

The appellant also has 30 days from the expiry of that time limit to state, by summons, the reasons for appealing against the decision that they are contesting.

Please note that, once an appeal has been lodged, the respondent in appeal can file for an appeal themself in mere written form.

An appeal can target the entire first-instance decision or be limited to parts of it. It consists of an examination of the first-instance judgment in so far as the appellant submits to the court only the parts of the judgment that they criticise. The appeal procedure is a new trial, with writing issued back and forth; when the judge finds that the case is ready, a final hearing is scheduled and the parties’ lawyers give the oral arguments.

Parties may submit new pleas in law, new documents or new evidence in support of the claims submitted to the first judge. However, they may not raise new claims, unless relating to compensation or if the new claim constitutes a defence to the main claim. Additional interest, arrears, rents and other accruals can also be claimed.

The court cannot impose any conditions on granting an appeal.

After hearing an appeal, and if the appealed judgment has not provided a final solution to the dispute (eg, if the judgment is not upheld), the appellate court may directly evoke the case if it is ready for trial or, if it is not, at the request of the parties.

In principle, each party bears the costs of its own defence (lawyers, translators, bailiffs, etc).

However, the losing party shall bear the statement of costs of the opponent, as validated by the court’s clerk – namely:

• stamp, registration and court fees;
• cost of the procedural documents and the fees set out in the tariff;
• cost of a copy of the judgment;
• witness and expert fees;
• travel and subsistence expenses of the parties and the costs of documents produced by the parties, where they were produced solely for the purposes of the proceedings; and
• proportionate duty (around 0.4% of the amount at stake, if possible to determine – otherwise, a sum declared by the lawyer).

In addition, the losing party may be ordered to pay to the other party a sum representing a contribution to the opponent’s legal fees, which is less than the costs incurred by the other party.

In certain cases, additional sums in the form of damages may be required based on the Monegasque equivalent of tort law (eg, in the case of undue resistance).

Persons in receipt of legal aid may be required to bear all or part of the cost of litigation if they are the losing party.

The judge shall take into account fairness (équité) and the economic situation of the losing party when awarding costs. In consideration of these factors, they may also decide to not award costs.

See 11.2 Factors Considered When Awarding Costs.

For most civil and commercial matters, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is not established nor required by procedural texts. For example, there is no obligation to seek an amicable solution before initiating a dispute.

In practice, lawyers (avocats) are key players in the amicable resolution of disputes. As part of their mandate and in the interests of their clients, they can negotiate to reach a settlement agreement. Communications between Monegasque avocats are covered by legal privilege, which facilitates the smooth running of negotiations.

Note that in specific areas ADR attempts may be mandatory. For example, in collective labour disputes, a conciliation and arbitration procedure is mandatory. Please note that in divorce proceedings the mandatory conciliation phase (the first step for a divorce) is overseen by a judge.

A pending draft bill on company law provides for the creation of a conciliation procedure for debtors engaged in commercial or craft activities who are experiencing legal, economic or financial difficulties.

See 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country.

See 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country.

The Code of Civil Procedure contains rules for local arbitration, though they are not often used.

An arbitration agreement may be concluded before the arbitrators are chosen, or in a deed drawn up before a notary or under private signature. It shall specify the issues covered by it and the names of the arbitrators. The number of arbitrators must be an odd number.

During arbitration, the arbitrators cannot be removed, except by unanimous agreement of the parties.

The parties and the arbitrators shall, in the course of the proceedings, observe the time limits and forms laid down for the courts, unless the parties have agreed otherwise in the arbitration agreement.

Each party shall be required to submit its defence and evidence at least 15 days before the expiry of the time limit of the arbitration agreement, and the arbitrators shall rule on what has been submitted. The arbitrators shall decide according to the rules of law, unless the arbitration agreement requires them to decide as amiables compositeurs.

In civil and commercial matters, any person may agree to submit to arbitration the rights that they are free to dispose. In commercial matters, they may also agree at the time of contracting to submit to arbitration all disputes arising between them.

Disputes relating to the following matters cannot be referred to arbitration:

• donations and legacies;
• maintenance;
• housing and clothing;
• separation of spouses;
• questions of status; or
• any kind of dispute that must be reported to the public prosecutor (including public order issues).

Arbitration awards are not subject to opposition nor to request for review.

Appeal

Arbitral awards can be subject to appeal.

In the event of arbitration by amicable composition in accordance with the arbitration agreement, the parties are then presumed to have waived their right to appeal. However, this cannot take effect in the event of violations of rules of public policy or of the rights of the defence (Cour de Revision, 8 May 1976, IDBD 25798).

Application for Withdrawal (Rétractation)

Arbitration awards can be subject to application for withdrawal before the First Instance Tribunal if:

• there has been personal fraud (dol personnel);
• it has been pronounced on things not requested;
• more was awarded than requested;
• it does not address one of the claims;
• the award contains contradictory provisions;
• it is contrary to an earlier decision given between the same parties, on the same subject matter and the same cause of action;
• the award has been given on the basis of documents that have been recognised or declared false since the judgment was given;
• the award was based on an affidavit that was recognised or declared false at the request of the public prosecutor, on the taking of a supplementary affidavit that was recognised or declared false, or on an enquiry in which a witness was convicted of perjury; or
• since the award, decisive documents that had been withheld by the party have been recovered.

The arbitral award shall be made enforceable by an enforcement order of the President of the First Instance Tribunal. To this end, one of the arbitrators shall submit the original of the award to the general clerk’s office within three days.

Arbitral awards, even preparatory rulings, may only be enforced after the President of the First Instance Tribunal has granted an order to this effect. The claimant shall file a certified copy of the arbitration judgment, which alone shall be retained by the court clerk’s office.

The execution order may be challenged by opposition before the First Instance Tribunal in the following situations:

• if the award was given without an arbitration agreement or outside the terms of an arbitration agreement;
• if the award was made on the basis of a null and void or expired arbitration agreement;
• if the award was rendered by persons who could not be appointed arbitrators or by certain arbitrators who were not entitled to judge in the absence of the others;
• if the forms prescribed for ordinary judgments were not observed, on pain of nullity, without the parties having exempted the arbitrators from observing them; and
• if a decision was given on matters not requested.

As regards foreign arbitral awards, exequatur is required for any decision rendered abroad. Exequatur must be granted by:

• the President of the First Instance Tribunal, ex parte, in commercial matters; and
• the First Instance Court after a summons, in civil matters.

Monaco has ratified the following treaties aimed at facilitating the use, recognition and effectiveness of arbitration:

• the Protocol on Arbitration Clauses (Geneva, 24 September 1923, League of Nations, Treaty Series, Volume 27, p 157);
• Monegasque Sovereign Order No 287 of 17 December 1924;
• the Franco-Monegasque Convention of 21 September 1949 on Mutual Legal Assistance, enforceable by Sovereign Order No 106 of 2 December 1949 (Article 18); and
• the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 10 June 1958, enforced by the Order of 14 September 1982.

In application of the latter, the Monegasque courts have considered that:

• they have jurisdiction to hear applications for enforcement of foreign arbitral awards; and
• a foreign arbitral award is subject in Monaco to the same procedure as the Monegasque arbitral award (Cour de Révision, 24 March 2017, IBDD 16075), except for exequatur and protection of Monegasque public order-related matters.

As of October 2024, there are no pending public proposals for dispute resolution reform before the Conseil National.

In the authors’ opinion, matters involving developing technologies (eg, crypto) or the recovery of assets from abroad offer promising prospects in the coming years.