Conduct of a civil trial before the community court

Verified 21 October 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You are summoned for a civil hearing before the local court and you want to know how to present your claims or defense? We'll walk you through the process before, during, or after the hearing.

If you want to enter the court of law or the community court, you are the applicant.

Depending on the dispute, you must either have a subpoena, or fill in a request.

Warning  

You must apply to the court in accordance with the rules of procedure. For example, if you send a request when a summons is required, your case cannot be tried.

If you receive a summons from the graft by registered letter or if you are the addressee of an assignment, you are the defendant to the procedure.

Since the proceedings are oral, the trial is structured around an audience.

If the court is seized by motion, you are summoned for this hearing, just like your opponent. Otherwise, the date of the hearing is in the summons.

Submission of documents and applications

In order to respect the adversarial principle, you need to communicate your parts and requests to your opponent. If your opponent takes a lawyer, you should send them to him.

Your opponent must do the same.

Warning  

You do not communicate your coins to your opponent at the last minute. If your exhibits are communicated too late to your opponent, the judge may refuse to take them into account.

The parts you want to use must also be sent to the court before the hearing. You can also file them in court on the day of the hearing.

You can try to agree with your opponent even if the court is seized. One amicable agreement may intervene at any time and thus terminate the procedure.

Assistance or representation

You can present in person at the hearing, where appropriate assisted by a lawyer.

If you're not here, you can get a lawyer to represent you.

Who shall I contact

You can also make yourself represent by a person other than a lawyer.

If you wish to be represented at the hearing by another person, you may give them a power.

Power is one written document which allows the designated person to appear at the hearing and speak for you and on your behalf.

The designated representative must be major. He must attend the hearing with the power and one identity document.

You can use the following template to write your power:

Model of power of representation in legal proceedings

In your power, you must designate one of the following persons:

  • No one with whom you live as a couple
  • Your father or your mother
  • Your child
  • Your brother or sister
  • Your nephew or niece
  • Your aunt or uncle
  • A person who is attached to your personal service or company (for example, a company lawyer or a domestic worker).

If you go to the hearing, these same people are allowed to assist you instead of a lawyer.

Proceedings without hearing

The hearing is not mandatory if you agree to ensure that the proceedings are conducted without a hearing. Your opponent must do the same.

The following form is used to give consent for proceedings without a hearing:

Consent to the conduct of the proceedings without a hearing - Oral proceedings before the court or the protection litigation judge

The judge may, however, decide to hold a hearing if he or she considers it necessary or if one of the parties so requests.

If the proceedings are conducted without a hearing, you must submit your requests and arguments in writing to your opponent and to the court.

Communication between your opponent and you must be by registered letter with a request for notice of receipt unless you have hired a lawyer.

If your case is not referred to a future hearing, it will be dealt with in a adversarial debate.

The court must sometimes rule on its substantive or territorial jurisdiction before dealing with the dispute.

Consequences of absence from the hearing

Your absence from the hearing has different consequences if you are the plaintiff or defendant.

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Vous avez choisi

Choisissez votre cas

You're the requester

If you are absent and unrepresented, the judge may order the obsolescence of the case. The consequence of this decision is to terminate the proceedings.

If you are excused from appearing, the case may be rescheduled or tried in your absence.

You're the defendant

The trial can be held if you get hurt to be represented by a lawyer or a third party with.

The trial can also take place if you are absent and unrepresented but provided that your summons is regular. In this case, the judge must be able to verify that you have been informed of the existence of the trial (summoned by LRAR or by the Commissioner of Justice).

The judge can postpone the trial to another date if you file a postponement request that the judge considers legitimate. They may also postpone the hearing if they feel it is necessary for you to be here.

Request for referral

You can request the return. of your case. If the application is granted, the judge shall fix the date of the next hearing at which the case is to be heard.

This request must be justified (too short a time to prepare your defense, application for legal aid pending ...).

The judge can accept your request if he considers that the ground is legitimate (it must be serious and justified). In this case, the judge sets the date for the next hearing. He or she may also refuse your request: in this case, the case is examined the same day.

In the event of a dismissal, particularly if your opponent has requested it, you can ask the judge to be excused from showing up at the next hearing.

Territorial and material jurisdiction of the court

Before discussing the dispute itselfHowever, you may raise the question of the material or territorial jurisdiction of the court which was given jurisdiction in the matter. The judge may also raise this issue.

The court may declare incompetent to try the case in the following cases:

  • Disputes arising under the jurisdiction of another judge (for example, a family court case)
  • Disputes arising under the jurisdiction of another court (e.g. labor council)
  • Disputes arising out of court in another city.

Conduct of the debates

The debate allow you and your opponent, to present your requests and arguments orally concerning the dispute between you.

The presiding judge arranges for the proceedings.

He gave the floor first to the applicant, then in a second stage at defendant.

If you want to explain further after your turn, you can ask the judge to speak again.

The judge may seek clarification from either party.

It can also to hear witnesses.

Exchanges during debates shall be recorded by the Clerk in a hearing note available from the graft.

If the judge considers that the case requires further discussion or the search for additional information (for example, an expert's report or an on-site visit), he or she may postpone the case to another date.

Please note

At any time, if the judge finds that an agreement can be reached, he or she may designate a conciliator of justice or a civil mediator. If this amicable route fails, debate can resume.

Once the parties have spoken, the judge closes the proceedings.

He gives the date of deliberate, i.e. the date on which the judgment will be delivered.

No request or argument may be taken into account after the conclusion of the proceedings, unless the judge expressly authorizes it.

On the day of deliberation, the judgment shall be made available at the RegistryThat is, you can go to the court and see it with your ID.

Less commonly, the judgment can be delivered orally at a hearing.

In any case, a copy of the judgment will be sent to you.

The decision can be made by you notified by the graft by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.

If not, the decision must be served by a Commissioner of Justice . This service is usually effected by the party who has an interest in enforcing the decision (the party who won the case).

FYI  

The judgment is enforceable by provision (i.e. it applies even if a party exercises a appeal), unless otherwise specified in the decision.

The recourse you can make is indicated in the notification of the Registry or of the Commissioner of Justice.

You can also deduce the possible remedy by looking at the wording of the judgment. In the device of the decision, you can read that your judgment is either rendered first, or last, or rendered in absentia.

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Vous avez choisi

Choisissez votre cas

Judgment rendered at first instance

You can challenge in appealing.

Final judgment

You can challenge it by filing a appeal in cassation.

Judgment rendered in default

You can challenge the decision by filing opposition.

The default judgment shall be that given in last resort and for which the quotation was not issued to the defendant in the proceedings.

Warning  

The time limit for contesting starts from significanceof notification by the Registry of the Court of First Instance or of the reading of the decision in open court.

If you notice a hardware error in your court decision, you can file a request for rectification. You can consider the same approach if the judge forgot to rule on a request from one of the parties to the dispute.

FYI  

If a point of judgment is equivocalHowever, if it can be interpreted in different ways, you can ask the judge to interpret its own decision by filing a request. You can only make this request if the decision is not appealed in call. The judge shall make his decision after having sought the opinion of the parties.

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • For information

    Telephone administrative information - Allo Public Service

    • accès

      For more information on this topic, you can contact Allô Service Public.

      Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.

    • horaires
      • Lundi : de 08h30 à 17h30
      • Mardi : de 08h30 à 12h15
      • Mercredi : de 08h30 à 12h15
      • Jeudi : de 08h30 à 17h30
      • Vendredi : de 13h00 à 16h15

    • Request a call

      coût Service free
    • service

      The informants who answer you are from the Department of Justice.

  • For information

    House of Justice and the Law

  • To get assistance

    Lawyer

FAQ