D
- Décret : Decree.
- Défendeur : defendant.
- Délit : misdemeanour.
- Demandeur : plaintiff .
- Dépôt : filing.
- Dépôt d’une demande d’enregistrement : filing of an application for a trademark or a utility model or patent.
- Désistement : waiver (désistement d’instance : express waiver for termination of pending litigation ; désistement d’instance et d’action : express waiver for termination of pending litigation as well as of all related legal claims).
- Dessins et modèles : design patent.
- Diffamation : libel or slander.
- Directeur Général : Vice-President of a S.A. type of company.
- Directive : directives are addressed to the European Union Member States as general instructions on legislation to be implemented.
- Directoire : the Executive Board in a S.A. type of company subject to the form of governance known as “ Directoire “and “ Conseil de Surveillance”.
- Dispositif : the holding portion of a Judgment, Opinion or Order.
- Dividendes : dividends distributed in proportion to the number of shares held in a company or moneys paid within the framework of a reorganisation plan by a debtor company.
- Douanes : Customs Authority.
- Droit : the laws, regulations and rules applicable to a given type of law (see below).
- Droit Civil : Civil Law.
- Droit d’auteur : copyright.
- Droits de douane : customs duties.
- Droit de la Concurrence : Antitrust and Competition Law.
- Droit de l’Environnement : Environmental Law.
- Droit des Sociétés : Company Law.
- Droit du Travail : Labor Law.
- Droit Pénal : Criminal Law.
E
- Enchères : auction, public sales.
- Enregistrement : recording.
- Droits d’enregistrement : recording tax which is payable in the case of an assignment of shares or of an on-going business , also, in case of an assignment of real property.
- Entente : cartel agreement.
- Escroquerie : fraudulent embezzlement.
- Etablissement stable : permanent establishment
- Expert : independant Expert appointed by the Court to provide expert testimony.
- Expert-Comptable : CPA.
- Exécutoire : immediately enforceable court decision.
- Jugement exécutoire : judgment which is immediately enforceable, notwithstanding an appeal.
F
- Faillite : bankruptcy and criminal offences attached to the state of bankruptcy.
- Faute : negligence or contractual breach.
- Faux : forgery.
- Faux documents : forged documents.
- Fiducie : a civil law institution in use in Switzerland akin to the “common law” concept of trust.
- Filiale : subsidiary company.
- Fonctionnaire : Civil Servant.
- Fonds de commerce : the assets of an on-going business, more specifically the goodwill associated with such business and its lease.
- Forclusion : specific statute of limitations
- Franchise : franchise agreement.
- Francisation : the act of having a vessel becoming subject to the applicability of French Registration, and more generally to French Law.
- Fusion : merger.
G
- Garantie : warranty.
- Garantie à première demande : autonomous guarantee.
- Garde : custody.
- G.E.I.E. (Groupement Européen d’Intérêts Economiques) : a G.I.E. made-up of European parties. See definition below.
- Gérant : Manager of a S.A.R.L. or S.N.C. (Partnership) type of company or Société Civile.
- G.I.E. (Groupement d’Intérêts Economiques) : a group, not having the status of a company, composed of legal or natural persons ; the purpose of such group is to promote common business interests. Its members are jointly liable.
- Greffe : Court Registry.
- Greffier : Court Clerk Bailiff.
H
- Héritiers : Heirs.
- Honoraires : legal fees.
- Hors-cote : off the counter.
- Huissier : Public Licensed Officer who may act both as Process Server and Sheriff in connection with enforcement of judgments.
- Hypothèque : mortgage.
- Hypothèque maritime : Sea vessel mortage.
I
- Immeuble : real property.
- Incapable : mentally incompetent person.
- Injure : slander/injurious utterances.
- I.N.P.I. : the French Trademark and Patent Office.