Part Fourth: Lapse of Proceedings by Passage of Time

Article 502

Decisions to join or separate lawsuits are among the judicial administration measures. Article 2 - Suspension of the Trial

Article 503

1. The trial may be suspended based on an agreement between the parties not to proceed with it for a period not exceeding six months from the date the court approves this agreement.

Article 504

In cases other than those in which the law stipulates the suspension of the trial, either mandatorily or optionally, the court may decide to suspend it for a specified period or until the occurrence of a circumstance that it specifies in its decision. It may also revoke the suspension decision or shorten its duration. Once the reason for the suspension ceases to exist, the parties may proceed with the trial.

Article 505

The hearing is interrupted unless it has been concluded in the following cases: 1- Death of one of the parties in suits that may be transmitted. 2- Loss by one of the parties of the capacity to sue. 3- Loss by the person representing the party in the suit as his legal representative of his capacity. This applies.

Article 506

1. The trial shall not be suspended due to the death of the opponent's attorney or the expiration of his agency by dismissal, resignation, or for any other reason, and the court may grant the opponent a reasonable deadline to appoint a new attorney for him.

Article 507

The interruption of the trial entails the suspension of all ongoing deadlines and the nullity of all procedures that take place during the interruption, unless the party to whom the cause of interruption relates waives explicitly or implicitly the right to plead the nullity.

Article 508

The hearing is resumed by notice to the person who takes the place of the party who died or lost the capacity to sue or the person who lost his capacity, upon request of the other party, or by notice to this latter upon request of those. The hearing is also resumed if the substitute party appears.

Article 509

If a trial, regardless of its subject matter, is left without prosecution for a period of two years from the date of the last valid procedure undertaken therein, it shall be permissible for either of the parties to request its dismissal.

Article 510

The time limit for forfeiture shall not apply in cases of interruption, except from the date of the procedure by which the court resumes. However, in cases of suspension of the trial, the time limit for forfeiture shall continue to run unless the suspension is provided for by law or decided by the judiciary for a specific period or until a specific event occurs, in which case the time limit shall be interrupted and shall not resume running until the end of the period or the occurrence of the event.

Article 511

The request for lapse of the hearing is submitted to the court before which the suit is pending, by a summons to be served on the party or by an objection presented to the opponent who takes any step to continue the hearing after the expiration of two years. The summons or the claim to enforcement must be submitted or raised.

Article 512

1- The hearing shall necessarily be pronounced to have lapsed when its conditions are met, but the court shall not be entitled to pronounce it of its own motion. 2- If the court verifies from the evidence available to it that the hearing was left unexamined for five years from the date of the last proceedings.

Article 513

1. If multiple persons constitute one of the parties to the lawsuit and one or some of them submit a request to drop the lawsuit or a plea of its dismissal, it shall be deemed to be in the interest of all of them. 2. If a final procedure is directed to one or some of them to interrupt the time limit for dismissal, the time limit shall be interrupted with regard to all of them. 3. If multiple persons constitute a party, a request to drop the lawsuit or a plea must be submitted against all of them. 4. If one or some of them direct a final procedure to interrupt the time limit for dismissal, the others shall benefit from it.

Article 514

1. The judgment of dismissal of the trial entails the dismissal of all its proceedings, including the summons and the dismissal of the rulings issued therein regarding the procedures of evidence. 2. However, it does not lead to the dismissal of the effect resulting from the lapse of time, nor does it dismiss the right, the final rulings, or the proceedings based on these rulings or the acknowledgments issued by the parties and the oaths they have sworn. 3. The parties may rely on the investigation procedures and the expert works that have been conducted, unless they are null and void in themselves.

Article 515

When judgment is rendered on the lapse of the appeal or objection, the judged appealed against, even if not served, shall be deemed a final judgment. When judgment is rendered on the lapse of the request for retrial before judgment on the acceptance of the request, this request shall lapse itself, but after judgment on its acceptance, the rules apply.

Article 516

The prescribed period for the lapse of prosecution applies to all natural and legal persons, including those with limited or no capacity, and they retain the right to resort against their guardians or administrators.

Article 517

Article 517 - The costs of the lawsuit that was ruled to be dropped shall be borne by the person who initiated the lawsuit.