Facts
The divorce of spouses A. was pronounced by judgment of the Court of First Instance of the Canton of Geneva dated March 9, 2011. On April 14, 2011, Mrs. B.A. appealed against this judgment before the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva, challenging in particular the amount of the contributions awarded to her. On August 19, 2011, Mr. A.A. responded to the appeal filed by his ex-wife and filed a joint appeal to contest in particular the amount set for the occupational pension assets accumulated during the marriage.
By letter dated March 28, 2012, Mrs. B.A. withdrew her appeal. By decision of May 15, 2012, the Court of Justice took note of the withdrawal of the appeal, consequently declared the joint appeal filed by Mr. A.A. lapsed, struck the case off the roll and ruled on the costs of the proceedings.
Mr. A.A. appealed against this decision to the Federal Tribunal.
Considerations
According to Article 313 paragraph 2 letter c of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), the joint appeal becomes lapsed when the main appeal is withdrawn before the start of the deliberations. The Federal Tribunal considered that the withdrawal of the main appeal was valid, i.e. before the start of the deliberations, and that consequently the joint appeal filed by Mr. A.A. had to be declared lapsed.
Indeed, the Federal Tribunal considered that the deliberations begin after the close of the main pleadings, which include the following phases: the initial pleadings, the taking of evidence and the final pleadings. Thus, the withdrawal of the main appeal by Mrs. B.A. took…