A French woman was so fed up with her sexless marriage that she decided to sue her husband. And she won.

The former couple, known only as Jean-Louis and Monique, had been married for 21 years and had two children when Monique decided to take her husband to court.

Jean-Louis, 51, was fined 10,000 Euro ($13,370) under a civil code that states married couples must agree to a "shared communal life", Britain's The Telegraph reported.

"A sexual relationship between husband and wife is the expression of affection they have for each other, and in this case it was absent," the judge said.

"By getting married, couples agree to sharing their life and this clearly implies they will have sex with each other."

Jean-Louis' job and ill-health prevented him from fulfilling his matrimonial duties, the court was told.