French fast track litigation procedure sometimes also called procedure à jour fixé established under Articles 788 to 792 of the New French Code of Civil Procedure. The jour fixé procedure allows a plaintiff to apply to the President of the tribunal (chief judge) for a hearing date for the case to be set at the beginning of the proceeding, typically in about 2-4 months.
The proceeding is an ordinary, full scale, proceedings on the merits, the only difference being that the case management (mise en état) step with several case management conferences is replaced by an order issued by the President setting the hearing date and, if he deems appropriate, a detailed schedule, including the date on which the summons must be served and dates for the defendant’s responses. However, it is very difficult to stay on the fast track as a defendant will normally try to argue that the case is not simple, requires information to be obtained, etc. and these arguments will often be accepted.