BOOK IV.

Of the Courts of Commercial Jurisdiction.

TITLE I.

Of the Organisation of the Tribunals of Commerce.

ART. 615. The number of tribunals of commerce and the several towns which, by the extent of their trade or manufactures, are entitled to have one, shall be determined by a regulation of public administration.

ART. 616. The jurisdictional district of each tribunal of commerce shall be the same as that of the civil tribunal within the limits of whose jurisdiction it shall be established; and if there be several tribunals of commerce within the jurisdictional limits of one civil tribunal only, particular districts shall be assigned to them respectively.

ART. 617. Each tribunal of commerce shall consist of one president and a competent number of judges and substitutes. (207) The number of judges cannot be more than eight, nor less than two; the president not included. That of the substitutes shall be in proportion to the business to be done. The number of judges and substitutes for each tribunal, shall be determined by a regulation of public administration.

ART. 618. The members of the tribunals of commerce shall be elected by an assembly composed of respectable merchants, and particularly of the heads of commercial houses of long standing, and who are generally esteemed for their integrity, industry, and economy.

ART. 619. The prefect shall make a list of persons of the above description, whom he shall select from among all the merchants of the district and shall send to the minister of the interior for his approbation: their number cannot be less than five and twenty in towns the population of which does not exceed fifteen thousand souls; in other towns and cities it must be augmented at the rate of one elector for every thousand souls.

620. Any merchant may be appointed a judge or substitute if he is thirty years of age, and has carried on trade and commerce with honour and distinction for the last preceding five years. The president must have attained the age of forty years, and shall only be chosen from among those who have been judges, including not only those who have exercised the judicial functions in the existing tribunals, but even those who have been consuls (208) under the old establishment.

(207) The French term is suppléants, which we think we cannot translate better than by the word substitutes; their office is very similar to that of the master of the rolls in the English court of Chancery, who sits and hears causes when the lord Chancellor cannot attend in person.

(208) Before the revolution the subjects which now constitute the jurisdiction of the tribunals of commerce were divided between two different courts. The courts of Admiralty had cognizance of all matters relative to shipping and maritime contracts, such as freight, insurance, bottomry, material-men, mariners' wages and

ART. 621. The election shall be made by ballot, and by the positive majority of votes. The president shall be voted for separately. ART. 622. At the first election, the president and one half of the judges and substitutes of which the tribunal shall be composed, shall be chosen for two years, and the other half for one year: At the subsequent elections, all the nominations shall be made for two years.

ART. 623. The president and judges cannot remain in office longer than two years, nor be re-elected but after the interval of one year. ART. 624. Government shall appoint a clerk or register, and huissiers for each tribunal, whose rights, fees, and duties shall be determined by a regulation of public administration.

ART. 625. Special officers, denominated gardes du commerce,(209) shall be established, for the city of Paris only, whose duty it shall be to execute the decrees of the tribunal of commerce, which are to be enforced by arrest or imprisonment; their organisation and the extent of their authority shall be determined by a special regulation.

ART. 626. The decrees of the tribunals of commerce shall be pronounced by at least three judges. No substitute can be called in, except to complete that number.

ART. 627. Agreeably to the 414th article of the code of civil proceedings, attorneys are not allowed to practise in the tribunal of commerce. (210) No person can be admitted to defend a cause before those tribunals, unless thereto authorized by the party in person and in open court, or unless he exhibits a special warrant of attorney from such party; which power may be indorsed on the original or a copy of the summons, and shall be exhibited to the register before the hearing of the cause, and by him inspected and signed gratis.

ART. 628. The functions of the judges are merely honorary.

ART. 629. They are sworn, before entering upon the exercise of their judicial functions; the oath is taken before the court of appeals when it holds its sittings within the town where the tribunal of commerce is established. In the contrary case, the court of appeals, on the application of the commercial judges, empowers the civil tribunal of the district to administer the oath; in that case,

the like; while bankruptcy, partnerships, merchants' accounts, bills of exchange, promissory notes and other matters relative to the land trade, were within the jurisdiction of a special tribunal established in each of the principal manufacturing and commercial towns, under the denomination of Juges Consuls. Their organization and mode of appointment were nearly the same with that of the tribunals of commerce under the present code, who are in fact the ancient Consular Courts revived, and having in addition to their former jurisdiction, that of an instance court of Admiralty.

(209) These were first established under Lewis XVI, by an edict made in the year 1778: their functions had been suspended during the revolution.

(210) The party may appear in court attended by a friend, or he may be represented by virtue of a special letter of attorney, but no person is allowed to appear for him in a legal character; the proceedings there being summary, and ex æquo et bono. The same rule prevails in Spain, before the courts of the Prior and Consuls, which are the commercial tribunals of that country. Ord. of Bilboa, c. 1. Art. 6.

the civil tribunal makes a procès verbal of the transaction, and transmits it to the court of appeals, who order it to be filed of record in their registry. All this is done with the advice of the law officer of the crown and without costs.

ART. 630. The tribunals of commerce are within the sphere of the authority, and under the superintendance of the grand judge minister of justicc.

TITLE II.

Of the Jurisdiction of the Tribunals of Commerce.

ART. 631. The tribunals of commerce shall take cognizance, 1. Of all suits relative to engagements and transactions between merchants, traders and bankers.

2. Of suits relative to commercial acts.

ART. 632. The law recognises as commercial acts:

Every purchase of merchandise or produce to be sold again, either in its natural state or after undergoing some manufacturing process, or even merely to be let out to hire:

All manufacturing establishments; all private or public contracts or undertakings for the supply of merchandise or of specific articles; agencies for the conveyance of goods by land or water, for the sale of goods on commission, or for the transaction of business in general, or in any particular line; sales at auction, and theatrical exhibitions;

Every kind of business in the way of exchange, banking and brokerage;

All the transactions of public banks;

All engagements between merchants, bankers and traders; Bills of exchange and remittances of money from place to place, between persons of any description.

ART. 633. The law recognises likewise as commercial acts: All contracts for the building, and all purchases, sales and resales, of ships and vessels for maritime or inland navigation; All maritime outfits and shipments;

All sales or purchases of rigging, tackle, apparel and provisions. Every contract of affreightment, maritime loan, insurance, and generally all contracts concerning maritime trade;

All agreements for the hiring and wages of seamen;

All engagements of seamen to serve on board of merchant vessels. ART. 654. The tribunals of commerce shall likewise take cognizance;

1. Of suits brought against factors, clerks or servants of merchants, so far only as concerns the business of their employers;

2. Of notes given by collectors of taxes and others being in the receipt of public moneys. (211)

(211) These are promissory notes or bills of exchange drawn by the collectors of taxes on themselves, in anticipation of the public revenue. They are thrown into circulation, and received in payment of imposts and duties.

ART. 635. And lastly, they shall take cognizance;

1. Of all matters concerning the delivery of the bilan and commercial books of a merchant under failure, and of the proof and verification of his debts;

2. Of all oppositions to the confirmation of a deed or articles of compromise between the debtor and his creditors in a case of failure, when the particular facts on which the opposition is founded are within the proper cognizance of commercial tribunals.

In all other cases, such oppositions shall be decided on by the civil tribunals.

In consequence thereof, all exceptions filed or exhibited against a compromise, shall contain the reasons of the opponent, otherwise shall be null and void.

3. Of the confirmation of deeds or articles of compromise made between a debtor and his creditors in cases of failure; 4. Of cases of cessio bonorum so far only as belongs to the jurisdiction of tribunals of commerce, by virtue of art. 901 of the code of civil proceedings. (212)

ART. 636. Whenever bills of exchange operate merely as simple contracts, as is mentioned above, art. 112, or when promissory notes payable to order shall be subscribed or indorsed only by individuals not engaged in trade, and shall not have been given in the course of a commercial or banking transaction or for some consideration resulting from traffic, exchange or brokerage, the tribunal of commerce shall be bound to transfer the cause to the civil tribunal, if thereto required by the defendant.

ART. 637. If the bills of exchange or promissory notes bear at the same time the signatures or indorsements both of merchants and of persons not in trade, the tribunal of commerce shall take cognizance thereof; but they shall not insert in their decrees the clause of coercion by imprisonment against those who are not merchants, unless they have subscribed or indorsed the bill or note in the course of a commercial or banking transaction, or for some consideration resulting from traffic, exchange or brokerage.

ART. 638. The tribunals of commerce shall not take cognizance of suits against owners or tenants of landed property, on account of the sale of produce raised upon their estates, or against merchants for articles purchased for their own personal use.

Nevertheless, all notes subscribed by a merchant, shall be considered to have been given in the course of his commercial dealings; and those subscribed by collectors of taxes, paymasters or other persons in the receipt of public moneys, shall be considered to have been given in the course of their official business, unless the contrary appear on the face of the writing.

(212) The article here referred to is the same with art. 571 of this code. It ought to be observed that by art. 442 of the code of civil proceedings, the tribunals of commerce cannot take cognizance of the execution of their own judgments. They are no more than the evidence of a debt; conclusive, indeed, when not appealed from, but all proceedings arising out of a seizure or arrest made in execution of them, belong exclusively to the jurisdiction of the civil tribunals.

ART. 639. The tribunals of commerce shall decide without appeal:

1. All suits and demands not exceeding the amount or value of 1000 francs.

2. All suits in which the parties, being amenable to their jurisdiction, and in the full exercise of their civil rights, shall agree to abide by the judgment of the tribunal, and waive the right to appeal therefrom.

ART. 640. In those districts in which there is no tribunal of commerce, the civil tribunals shall exercise the functions and jurisdiction thereof.

ART. 641. The proceedings in such cases, shall be carried on in the same form as they would have been before the tribunals of commerce, and the decrees shall be equally effectual.

TITLE III.

Of the forms of Proceeding before the Tribunals of Commerce. ART. 642. The forms of proceeding before the tribunals of commerce shall be those which have been regulated by the code of civil proceedings, part 1. book 2. tit. 25.

ART. 643. Nevertheless, the articles 156, 158, and 159 of the same code (213) relative to judgments by default rendered by inferior tribunals, shall be applicable to the judgments by default which shall be rendered by the tribunals of commerce.

ART. 644. Appeals from the judgments or decrees of the tribunals of commerce, shall be carried to the appellate courts of the circuits in which they are respectively situated. (214)

TITLE IV.

Of the forms of Proceeding before the Courts of Appeals. ART. 645. The term of three months is allowed for appealing from the judgments or decrees of the tribunals of commerce; to be computed in the case of final judgments, from the day of the notification thereof, and in cases of judgments by default, from the expiration of the term prescribed for entering an opposition to the same. The appeal may be entered on the same day that the judgment is given.

ART. 646. The appeal shall not be admitted when the principal sum does not exceed in amount or value 1000 francs, though the decree should not express that it is given finally and without appeal, or should even reserve or allow to the parties the right of appealing therefrom.

(213) The articles here cited refer to mere matters of practice, of no kind of interest to the American reader.

(214) An error has inadvertently crept in Note 27. p. 99. where it is said "that there is in France one tribunal of appeals in each department." It ought to be read for several departments.

Previous to the annexation of Holland and the Hanse Towns, there were in France thirty-three courts of appeals, each having within its jurisdiction a certain number of departments. It is probable that their number has been increased since that event.