The Action de Groupe Step by Step: How French Consumer Class Actions Work in Practice

The action de groupe is initiated by an assignation — a formal summons served by a commissaire de justice — citing the professional to appear before the tribunal judiciaire. The summons must comply with the general procedural requirements for contested written proceedings before the tribunal judiciaire (CPC Arts. 54, 56, and 752) and must include, on pain of nullity, an express statement of the individual cases presented by the association in support of its action (Art. R 623-3, al. 1). A copy of the association's approval decree must be attached (Art. R 623-3, al. 2).

The individual cases (cas individuels) are the factual foundation on which the court will assess the professional's liability and the harm categories. The statute sets no minimum number of individual cases — in practice, associations typically cite cases that have already been the subject of individual court judgments against the same professional. The juge de la mise en état has no power to rule on the relevance of the individual cases included in the summons: that assessment belongs to the court on the merits (Cass. 1re civ., 27 June 2018, n° 17-10.891 F-PBI, Bull. civ. I n° 118).

From the moment the summons is filed, the prescription of every individual consumer's action for the same harm against the same professional is suspended. Prescription restarts for a minimum of six months from the first judgment or from the homologation of a mediation agreement (Art. L 623-27). Consumers can therefore choose, after the judgment, not to join the group and pursue their own individual action.

The first judgment is the central event in the proceedings. The court addresses, all in the same decision, the following mandatory elements:

• The professional's liability (Art. L 623-4): assessed on the basis of the individual cases presented. The court must decide whether liability is established before proceeding to the remaining elements
• The definition of the group and the criteria for membership (Art. L 623-4): the group is defined in the abstract — for example, "consumers who purchased product X bearing lot number Y." The individual members of the group are not yet known at this stage
• The harms and their compensation (Art. L 623-5): the categories of patrimonial harm eligible for compensation for each consumer or category of consumers constituting the group, and either the amounts or all the elements enabling their evaluation
• The consumer information measures (Art. L 623-7): the modalities and channels for informing potential group members — national or regional press, television, radio, professional's website, association's website, social media, email, SMS. The judgment must also fix the deadline within which the professional must implement these measures at their own expense
• The adhesion window and modalities (Art. L 623-8): the 2-to-6-month period during which consumers may join, and whether they must approach the professional, the association, or the court-appointed auxiliary
• The compensation conditions and deadlines (Arts. L 623-11, L 623-18): how compensation is to be delivered, within what period, and what the professional must pay each adhering consumer
• The deadline for bringing unsatisfied claims back before the court (Art. L 623-11): the date by which the association must file unsatisfied compensation claims so the court can address them in its second judgment
• Referral to mise en état (Art. R 623-8): the hearing date at which unsatisfied claims will be examined

• Appointment of an avocat, commissaire de justice, or other regulated judicial professional to assist the association in handling the volume of compensation requests (Art. L 623-13)
• Conditions for in-kind repair if the court finds it more appropriate than monetary compensation (Art. L 623-6)
• A provision on the association's non-recoverable costs (Art. L 623-12, al. 1): the professional can be ordered to pay a provision on the association's legal costs beyond those recoverable as dépens
• A consignation of part of the sums owed at the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (Art. L 623-12, al. 2)

At any point in the proceedings, the court may order any legally admissible investigative measure necessary for the preservation of evidence or the production of documents — including documents held by the professional itself (Art. R 623-9). Available measures include personal verification by the judge, testimony and enquiries, and expert assessment.

Once the first judgment is no longer subject to challenge, the professional must implement the information measures ordered by the court, at their own expense, within the deadline the judgment fixes. If the professional fails to implement the measures within that deadline, the association steps in and implements them — still at the professional's expense (Art. L 623-7, al. 2 and R 623-7).

The court has unlimited discretion as to the form of the information campaign: national or regional print press, audiovisual media, the professional's own website, the association's website, social media channels, email, and SMS are all available. Multiple channels can be required simultaneously.

• The operative part (dispositif) of the judgment
• The contact details of the person to whom each consumer must address their adhesion to the group
• The form, content, and deadline for adhesion
• A statement that adhesion constitutes a mandate to the association for indemnification purposes
• A warning that failure to join within the deadline permanently forecloses the consumer from class action compensation
• A warning that once compensated within the class action, the consumer cannot bring an individual action for the same harm (though they may still seek compensation for other harm)
• A requirement that consumers produce all useful documents in support of their claim

Each eligible consumer must expressly join the group within the adhesion window fixed by the court. The window is not less than two months and not more than six months, measured from the completion of the information campaign (Art. L 623-8, al. 1). The modalities are determined by the court; consumers may be directed to approach the professional directly, the association, or an auxiliary. Any contractual clause preventing a consumer from participating is automatically deemed non-written (Art. L 623-32).

Adhesion may be made by any means providing written acknowledgment. It must contain the consumer's name, first name, and address, and, if applicable, an email address for procedure-related communications. It must specify the amount claimed in compensation for the harm invoked, having regard to the first judgment's provisions.

• Adhesion constitutes a mandate to the association for indemnification purposes (Art. L 623-9), including the power to perform all procedural acts and to exercise all appeals (Art. R 623-20). Adhesion does not imply membership of the association itself
• The association advances all costs and fees of the procedure on the consumer's behalf (Art. R 623-20, al. 2)
• The mandate is revocable at any time; revocation automatically constitutes withdrawal from the group (Art. R 623-21)
• Adhesion to the group does not prevent a consumer from bringing individual actions for harm outside the scope defined by the court — for example, for personal injury or moral harm (Art. L 623-29)

The professional must compensate each consumer who has adhered to the group within the conditions, limits, and deadlines set by the first judgment (Art. L 623-18). All sums received by the association from the professional for consumers must be immediately deposited at the Caisse des dépôts et consignations in a specific account opened for the group (Art. L 623-10, R 623-23 and R 623-24). Only the association may operate this account. The professional bears all enforcement recovery costs (Art. L 623-21).

During the indemnification phase, the court that rendered the first judgment retains exclusive jurisdiction to resolve difficulties (Art. L 623-19). The first judgment's referral to mise en état (Art. R 623-8) keeps the judge seized. Difficulties must be submitted to the juge de la mise en état before the compensation deadline expires; the indemnification clock is suspended until the judge's order, which cannot be appealed (Art. R 623-25). Typical difficulties include: disputes about the legitimacy of certain adhesions; requests for provision; and problems with document or brief transmission. This is a notable procedural anomaly compared with standard civil proceedings, where the first judgment normally divests the court of its jurisdiction.

After the compensation deadline expires, the court renders its second judgment. Where the association has referred unsatisfied compensation claims back to the court, the judge rules on all of them in a single decision (Art. R 623-10). Unsatisfied claims must be brought before the court in the form of written conclusions served between lawyers and filed with the clerk, within the deadline fixed in the first judgment (Art. R 623-26).

Where no unsatisfied claims have been referred back, the court declares the proceedings extinguished (Art. R 623-27).

If the professional fails to execute the second judgment voluntarily, the association represents the non-compensated consumers in enforcement proceedings. For this purpose, the association is treated as a creditor under Arts. L 111-1 and L 111-2 of the Code des procédures civiles d'exécution (Art. R 623-28). All acts relating to enforcement must specify, on pain of nullity, the identity of the consumers on whose behalf the association is acting (Art. R 623-29).