TITLE I REVOCATION OF JUDGMENT

CHAPTER I

REVOCATION OF JUDGMENT AT THE REQUEST OF ONE OF THE PARTIES

482. A party condemned by default to appear or to plead may, if he was prevented from filing his defence by surprise, by fraud or by any other reason considered sufficient, request that the judgment be revoked and that the action be dismissed.

The motion, addressed to the court which rendered the judgment, must contain not only the grounds for revocation of judgment, but also the grounds of defence to the action.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 482.

483. Likewise, where there is no other useful recourse against a judgment, the court which rendered it may revoke it at the request of one of the parties, in the following cases:

(1) When the procedure prescribed has not been followed and the resulting nullity has not been covered;

(2) When the judgment has decided beyond the conclusions, or when it has failed to rule on one of the essential grounds of the suit;

(3) When, in the case of a minor or person of full age under tutorship or curatorship, no valid defence has been produced;

(4) When judgment has been rendered upon an unauthorized consent or tender subsequently disavowed;

(5) When judgment has been rendered upon documents whose falsity has only been discovered afterwards, or following fraud of the adverse party;

(6) When, since the judgment, decisive documents have been discovered whose production had been prevented by a circumstance of irresistible force or because of the act of the adverse party;

(7) When, since the judgment, new evidence has been discovered and it appears that:

(a) if it had been brought forward in time, the decision would probably have been different;

(b) it was known neither to the party nor to his attorney or agent and

(c) it could not, with all reasonable diligence, have been discovered in time.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 483; 1989, c. 54, s. 134.

484. The motion in revocation, served on all the parties in the record with notice of the day when it will be presented to a judge for reception, must be filed within 15 days counting, according to the circumstances, from the day when the party acquired knowledge of the judgment, when the cause preventing production of the defence was removed, when he acquired knowledge of the new evidence, of the falsity of the document or of the fraud of the opposite party, when the conclusive document was discovered, or when the judgment was rendered disavowing the unauthorized act.

In the case of a minor, contemplated in paragraph 3 of article 483, the time limit runs from the day of service of the judgment effected since he attained majority.

The time limit of 15 days is peremptory; nevertheless the court may, on motion and provided that not more than six months have elapsed since judgment, relieve from the consequences of his default the party who shows that, in fact, it was impossible for him to act sooner.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 484; 1999, c. 40, s. 56.

484.1. In the case provided for in article 198.1, the judgment cannot be revoked, on the motion of the party condemned by default to appear or to plead made within one year from the date of judgment, unless that party proves that, by no fault of his own, he did not acquire knowledge of the proceedings in time to file a defence or to exercise a recourse against the decision and unless the grounds of his defence do not appear unfounded.

1985, c. 29, s. 10.

485. The motion in revocation does not suspend the execution until it has been received, unless a judge gives a special order which, in case of urgency, may be given without prior notice.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 485.

486. The officer charged with executing the judgment, and on whom has been served a copy of the motion in revocation and of the certificate attesting that it has been received, is required to suspend, and to return to the office of the court without delay, the writ of execution and the motion which was served on him.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 486.

487. The motion made in virtue of article 482 forms part of the proceedings in the original suit and is subject to the same rules. The party who produced it is liable for all the costs resulting from his default, whatever judgment is rendered.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 487.

488. If the grounds invoked in support of a motion made in virtue of article 483 are judged to be sufficient, the parties are placed in the position where they were previously, and the procedure follows the rules of the original instance. The court may also, if it sees fit, pronounce at the same time upon the motion in revocation and on the original demand. In all cases it adjudicates as to costs in accordance with the circumstances.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 488.

CHAPTER II

REVOCATION OF JUDGMENT AT THE REQUEST OF A THIRD PARTY, OR OPPOSITION BY A THIRD PARTY

489. Every person whose interests are affected by a judgment rendered in a suit in which neither he nor his representatives were summoned, may, by motion to the court which rendered it, demand that it be revoked so far as it prejudices his rights.

The motion must be served on all the parties in the suit or, if it is made less than a year after the judgment, upon the attorneys who represented them in the suit; it does not suspend execution unless a judge so orders.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 489.

490. The motion is proceeded upon in accordance with the rules applicable to the original suit.

1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 490.