Court

Le Pen trial update: far-right leader denounces ‘preconceived ideas’

The head of the Rassemblement National denies charges relating to the misuse of European parliamentary funds. She says the case was wrongly seeing everything as ‘suspect’

Family of French explorer who died in US Titan tragedy sue for $50m

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, nicknamed ‘Mr Titanic’ due to his decades-long interest in the famous wreck, was one of five people who died in the disaster

Man ‘plotted to kill’ osteopath who left him disabled in France

The man, who suffered irreversible damage to his spinal cord, is accused of hiring hitmen to engineer a ‘revenge’ killing

practical

Explained: How to settle disputes without going to court in France

We look at the new ‘amicable’ process for everyday civil claims introduced to find out-of-court solutions

Search for Irishman who has left French home abandoned for 22 years

Property is to be demolished following a court order as it is starting to fall down onto the street

Neighbour murdered Briton in France after she asked to borrow tape

The 67-year-old had moved to France in 2016 and was ‘living her dream’

Do Britons have a right to a translator in a French court?

We look at whether the state has provisions for non-French speakers

Homeowner sues French fire service over blaze in his garden

He claimed firefighters did not do enough to prevent reignition of a fire in a nearby field

Covid-19: French state guilty of stopping son visiting dying father

‘The last words my dad said to me on the phone were: “Don’t worry, we’ll see each other again.”’

Couple cannot demolish and rebuild French home even if not protected

The 1950s building is said to be of ‘heritage interest’ despite this not being officially recognised

Cockerel in French village must leave as it crows too loudly

‘He’s just doing his job as a rooster!’ claims the bird’s owner but neighbours say they cannot sleep

Cat compensation case is 'turning point' for animal rights in France

The sum due - €100 - is mainly symbolic but has been welcomed by animal-rights defenders

Explainer: How criminal courts and jury service work in France

We look at the active role of judges, how cases are tried and why the system is so slow

Four sent to jail over ‘home-jacking’ in south-west France

The masked gang arrived at home of retired couple armed with a gun and demanded valuables. The wife and a house cleaner were tied up

13 things French ‘commissaires de justice’ do apart from collect debts

These newly established public officials can help establish facts in a neutral way - from divorce disputes to intellectual property

How you must try to resolve neighbour disputes amicably in France

A mediator must always be used before taking certain issues to court

French state faces legal action for not protecting people from hunters

Two associations say that the ‘unprecedented’ case is calling for no-hunt days and claims that 70% of people in France ‘do not feel safe’ during hunting season

France condemned over its lack of masks during Covid pandemic

Paris court rules that professionals put at risk can claim compensation

French ski stations appeal higher costs for seasonal employees

They argue that their fixed-term contracts are different to the short-term contracts on which the government is levying extra charges

Do you need to speak French to do a road awareness course?

The requirement to undertake a course resulted from a driving incident

Controversial ban on public sitting in French town partially suspended

A court said restrictions on sitting or lying in public spaces in Angoulême represented ‘a disproportionate infringement of freedom’

Noisy neighbours: France’s most outlandish and notorious disputes

We look at five of the country’s most unusual complaints in recent years

SNCF fined over crushing cat taking refuge under TGV at French station

The state-owned railway operator was found guilty of negligence

Debt collector of UK fines ‘illicitly’ got data of drivers in France

That is the claim of 102 plaintiffs who have filed a complaint over fines relating to low emission zones in London

Nearly 1,800 to file complaint to French carmaker Renault over defects

Their lawyer has called for a criminal investigation. Renault says its 'cars remain safe'

European court set to rule on French lawyers’ Brexit case

A June date has been set for a ruling about Britons’ EU citizenship rights

Legal bid to overturn ban on above-ground pools in southern France

Restrictions to tackle drought conditions in Pyrénées-Orientales stigmatise swimming pools, says the federation bringing the legal challenge

French serial killer’s ex may face trial over murder of UK student

Monique Olivier, the ex-wife of killer Michel Fourniret, could face justice over the killing of British student Joanna Parrish

Nestlé agrees to compensate French victims of deadly pizza scandal

The agreement comes after two children died and dozens fell seriously ill after eating contaminated pizza last year

Airbus and Air France cleared over plane crash that killed 228 people

‘All that remains … is despair, dismay and anger,’ said an association representing relatives of the crash victims

France’s constitutional court sets date for ruling on pension reforms

It will decide on the constitutional legality of the project and whether it should be put to a national referendum

French language defenders sue Notre-Dame over English translations

Campaigners argue only translating the cathedral’s signs into English promotes dominance of that language

‘I drew in five minutes the absolute pain of a lifetime’

Retired courtroom artist shares her many years of experience covering France’s most memorable and harrowing trials

Where is the best place to buy a second home in France?

Our property news wrap also looks at a neighbour dispute over a right of way, liability for latent defects when selling a property and MaPrimeRénov' bugs

Hamlet’s ‘noisy’ cockerel can continue crowing, rules French court

Saturnin was at the centre of legal action after a neighbour claimed the bird disturbed their sleep

Battle over frog noise in Dordogne not over

The couple ordered to fill in their garden pond to stop the noise of frogs croaking disturbing neighbours say they will appeal.

French rural residents ‘must be protected from pesticides’

The Conseil d’Etat has ruled that minimum distances between homes and pesticide-approved agricultural land insufficient

Servier launches Paris appeal over Mediator ‘slimming pill’ scandal

It comes after the manufacturing lab was found guilty of aggravated deception and manslaughter in connection with the drug which has been linked to hundreds of deaths

'Voir dire': You need Latin not French to understand this legal phrase

Language ‘false friends’ can confuse translation but a bit of Latin can help in this (court) case

Does the EU have a small claims court like the UK does?

We look at mechanisms which aim to protect consumer rights

French court definitively allows sale of CBD flowers and products

The new Conseil d’Etat decision overturns a previous government ban and has been welcomed by the industry

ECHR dismisses Zemmour appeal and upholds inciting hatred conviction

The court rejected the former presidential candidate’s ‘freedom of expression’ appeal and said his comments were ‘derogatory and discriminatory’

Six months’ jail demand for French hunter who shot man dead in garden

‘I did not properly identify my target. It was my mistake, I regret it,’ hunter tells court. He said he had mistaken man chopping wood for a wild boar

Trial to begin over hunt accident death of 25-year-old in his garden

Both the hunter who fired the fatal shot and the organiser of the hunt will be tried for involuntary homicide

French hospital ordered to pay Jehovah’s Witness over transfusion

A French court has ruled a hospital must compensate a Jehovah’s Witness after staff administered a blood transfusion which the patient had explicitly refused

Trial date set for French hunter after man shot dead in garden

The hunter will be tried for involuntary homicide along with the person who organised the hunt on that day

French farmer on a mission to prove 4G tower is harming his cattle

He defied the highest French court to turn the mast off and ‘the difference in the cows was remarkable’

French drivers force Nissan and Renault to court over ‘faulty engines’

The class action group wants the release of internal documents which, it claims, show the firms knew about the problems

Ryanair’s €8.67million fine for ‘Irish law workers’ in France upheld

The low-cost airline was found to have knowingly sought to circumvent regulations and in particular to have wrongly used ‘E101 forms’ to benefit from lower charges

French man faces legal battle over yurts he rents for free to families

The 60-year-old from near Nantes says he was forced to act due to skyrocketing rent prices. His local mairie says he must dismantle the yurts as he does not have a building permit

American mother and son jailed for attempted murder of French father

The pair were described as ‘driven by a desire for revenge’ in court, which sentenced them to 16 and 12 years in closed jail respectively

‘Viager’ buyer accused of murdering owner to get French property early

The former firefighter is said to have caused the 92-year-old woman to choke to death on a piece of cake

French crowing cockerel owner in court after neighbour’s complaint

The resident's holiday home neighbour said that the noise causes him ‘real suffering’, in the latest in a series of similar complaints

16 people on trial for stealing goods from moving HGVs in France

Gang members allegedly jumped from a car onto the back of the lorries as they were being driven at high-speed along motorways

French man built tower to watch couple building house next door

He also swore at his new neighbours, made rude gestures and repeatedly sounded his car horn in protest. He was taken to court and convicted of harassment

94-year-old French woman ordered to move after harassing neighbours

The former notaire’s clerk spent eight years carrying out malicious acts against the young family next door. In court she claimed she could not hear the judge’s questions

French high court orders Merck to pay €3.3m to Levothyrox victims

The court found that the lab had committed ‘a fault’ in the final ruling on a case that dates back to 2017

French Levothyrox case forced to open in concert hall

A Lyon court hearing into the ongoing case of controversial thyroid medication Levothyrox has opened in a concert hall after the city’s Palais de Justice proved too small to host the 4,113 plaintiffs present.

New France-UK study finds Levothyrox ‘not equivalent’

A new study into the controversial “new formula” of thyroid medication Levothyrox has found that the two formulas are in fact “not equivalent” for all patients, in contrast to previous claims.

Levothyrox controversy: Lyon court wins payout for patients

The manufacturer of thyroid drug Levothyrox, which has been at the centre of controversy since 2017 after patients claimed a new formula did not work, has been ordered to pay €1,000 to more than 3,000 plaintiffs.

‘Ryanair wrongly claimed French flight cancelled due to bad weather’

Bordeaux resident who as a result had to drive overnight to attend a wedding in UK in time wins compensation after discovering flight was possible

Trial of French dentists accused of ‘deliberate violence’ begins today

The millionaire father-and-son team were once the richest dentists in France, but they now stand accused of inflicting ‘deliberate violence leading to permanent disfigurement or disability’

Brexit updates: EU citizenship court case, S1s, attestations d’accueil

Our roundup includes better rules for UK pensioners’ S1 forms and a fight to re-establish Britons’ EU citizenship rights, with a hearing being held today at the European Court of Justice

Paris trial over jihadist murder of French priest in 2016 begins today

Père Jacques Hamel was killed in an Islamist terror attack in a church near Rouen. Four people accused of involvement are standing trial

Why Paris court has overturned rule on mandatory outdoor mask-wearing

Local authorities retain the right to ‘demarcate specific zones where masks are mandatory’

French court says mandatory masks outdoors is ‘attack on freedom’

People in Yvelines no longer have to wear masks outdoors except in certain crowded areas. The court in Versailles called widespread mask wearing ‘disproportionate’

French lab Sanofi found responsible in epilepsy drug court case

Paris court found failures in care and information on the risks of developmental issues in unborn children when Dépakine is taken during pregnancy

‘I can no longer stay silent’ says actress accusing Depardieu of rape

Charlotte Arnould claims that actor Gérard Depardieu raped her in 2018, and has waived her right to anonymity in a post on social media

Is French pension body allowed to seize money?

My husband is in dispute with Cipav, the pension body for self-employed professionals, over unpaid contributions. A court found in its favour and we are in negotiation to work out a payment plan. My husband and myself have received letters from our bank for a saisie-attribution on our joint account. As the debt belongs to my husband, can Cipav block a joint account? J.L.