French Commercial code
In forceAny litigant who considers that, in the course of legal proceedings concerning him or her, the conduct adopted by a commercial court judge in the performance of his or her duties is liable to be classified as disciplinary may refer the matter to the national disciplinary commission for commercial court judges. This referral does not constitute grounds for disqualification of the magistrate.
The complaint is examined by a committee for the admission of applications made up of two members of the national disciplinary commission, one a magistrate and the other a judge of a commercial court, appointed each year by the chairman of the national disciplinary commission, under the conditions determined in this article.
On pain of inadmissibility, the complaint :
1° May not be directed against a judge of a commercial court who remains seized of the proceedings;
2° May not be presented after the expiry of a period of one year from an irrevocable decision terminating the proceedings;
3° Contains a detailed statement of the alleged facts and grievances;
4° Is signed by the litigant and indicates his or her identity, address and the elements enabling the proceedings in question to be identified.
When the complaints committee of the national disciplinary commission declares the complaint admissible, it informs the judge in question.
The complaints committee asks the first president of the court of appeal and the president of the commercial court on which the judge in question depends for their observations and any useful information. The first president of the court of appeal invites the commercial court judge concerned to submit his observations. Within two months of being requested to do so by the committee responsible for admitting applications, the first president of the court of appeal sends all of this information and observations to the said committee as well as to the Minister of Justice.
The committee responsible for admitting applications may hear the judge in question and, where applicable, the litigant who lodged the complaint. If the complaint is rejected by the Applications Admissions Commission, the first president of the Court of Appeal and the Minister of Justice retain the right to refer the facts complained of to the National Disciplinary Commission. The judge against whom the complaint has been lodged, the litigant, the first president of the court of appeal, the president of the commercial court to which the judge against whom the complaint has been lodged belongs and the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Justice, are notified of the rejection of the complaint or the commencement of disciplinary proceedings. There is no right of appeal against the decision to reject the complaint. Members of the Applications Admissions Committee may not sit on the National Disciplinary Committee when the latter is seised of a case referred to it by the Applications Admissions Committee or when it is seised, by the authorities referred to in Article L. 724-3, of facts identical to those invoked by a litigant whose complaint has been rejected by the Commission d'admission des requêtes. In the event of a tied vote within the Commission d'admission des requêtes, the examination of the complaint is referred to the Commission nationale de discipline.
