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Cass. civ. 1ère, 22 mars 2023, n° 22-20.064 — French Cour de cassation on Coached Child Refusal

TL;DR. French Cour de cassation ruling addressing how family courts must evaluate a child's refusal of contact when there are signs of alienating influence by the resident parent. The Court held that the juge aux affaires familiales has an affirmative duty to investigate the origin of the child's stated refusal — including ordering expertise where appropriate — rather than treating the refusal as dispositive. Aligns France with the ECHR Solarino line + the German BGH XII ZB 565/15 doctrine.

Maintained by Alan Markson · Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 · License: CC BY 4.0

Citation

Cour de cassation, 1ère chambre civile, 22 mars 2023, pourvoi n° 22-20.064

Holding

The Cour de cassation clarified:

  1. The child's stated refusal cannot ground contact severance without investigation — the juge aux affaires familiales must consider the broader context including alienating-behavior allegations
  2. Court must order expertise when source-of-refusal is contested — typically through an expertise médico-psychologique under Code civil
  3. The right to maintain personal relationships under Code civil Art. 373-2-1 et seq. cannot be reduced to formal compliance — substantive enforcement is required
  4. ECHR Article 8 obligations are incorporated and binding on French civil courts under the bloc de conventionnalité

Significance

This decision is the French doctrinal anchor for the international convergence on investigate the source of the refusal, don't rubber-stamp it:

  • Solarino v. Italy (ECHR 2017) — European-level
  • Cassazione 9691/2022 (Italy)
  • BGH XII ZB 565/15 (Germany)
  • Re C [2023] EWHC 345 (Fam) (UK)
  • This case (France 2023)

For French targeted parents, this gives a direct pourvoi en cassation citation: the juge aux affaires familiales who simply accepts the child's stated refusal without investigating its formation has applied the law incorrectly.

Practical use

Sample French motion language:

Conformément à l'arrêt de la Cour de cassation, 1ère chambre civile, 22 mars 2023, n° 22-20.064, le juge aux affaires familiales a l'obligation d'examiner l'origine du refus de l'enfant lorsque des indices d'influence parentale unilatérale sont produits aux débats. Le refus exprimé par l'enfant ne saurait fonder à lui seul une suspension du droit de visite et d'hébergement. Le tribunal est respectueusement saisi d'une demande d'expertise médico-psychologique au sens de l'article 144 du Code de procédure civile.

The French PA jurisprudential context

French civil-court treatment of PA has evolved:

  • Historical reluctance to engage with "aliénation parentale" framing
  • 2010s — increasing recognition of conflit de loyauté (loyalty conflict) framing
  • 2020s — behaviors frame increasingly accepted, syndromal framing still resisted
  • This 2023 Cour de cassation decision — supreme-court anchor for source-investigation duty
  • Code civil Art. 373-2-1 — personal-relationship right, court-enforceable

How this interacts with international jurisprudence

The international convergence post-2023:

Year Decision Jurisdiction Doctrine
2017 Solarino v. Italy ECHR Cannot rubber-stamp coached refusal
2018 BGH XII ZB 565/15 Germany Court must investigate source of wishes
2022 Cassazione 9691/2022 Italy Behaviors not syndrome
2023 Re C [2023] EWHC 345 England Behavior-frame operationalized
2023 This case France Source-investigation duty

Cross-border French PA cases benefit from citing all five — the ECHR decision is directly binding via Article 8 + the bloc de conventionnalité.

Citing posts

# Post
13 https://www.antialienate.com/blog/echr-article-8-eu-legal-weapon
17 https://www.antialienate.com/blog/pa-vs-estrangement-courts
22 https://www.antialienate.com/blog/choosing-pa-lawyer
25 https://www.antialienate.com/blog/court-appointed-pa-expert

Primary source

  • Cour de cassation: https://www.courdecassation.fr
  • Legifrance search: pourvoi n° 22-20.064

Disclaimer

Wiki entry, not legal advice. Engage a qualified avocat in droit de la famille for French matters.

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