Commercial litigation: conduct of a case before the commercial court

Verified 02 August 2023 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice

You are a merchant or an individual. You have a dispute with a merchant. Your dispute concerns a commercial act or on a collective proceedings. You can go to the commercial court. We present you with the information you need to know.

The Commercial Court shall have jurisdiction to settle commercial disputes. In the departments of Alsace-Moselle (Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle), the commercial chamber of the judicial court has jurisdiction.

General case

The Commercial Court deals with commercial disputes.

It may be seized in particular in the following cases:

  • Disputes between traders, craftsmen, credit institutions or between traders and private individuals
  • Disputes between commercial businesses
  • Disputes concerning commercial acts and collective proceedings.

It deals with the difficulties of commercial and craft companies (prevention, recovery, judicial liquidation).

General case

You may bring an action before the commercial court on which the domicile of the defendant .

If it is a legal person (business, company...), you can also refer the location of the registered office or the representative of the establishment concerned by the dispute.

If there is several respondents, you can take one of them to the commercial court.

If your opponent does not have a known domicile or residence or registered office, you can file a complaint with the commercial court of your domicile (or that of your choice if you reside abroad).

Who shall I contact
Real estate

You must bring an action before the Commercial Court of real estate (e.g. sale of real estate between traders).

Who shall I contact
Purchase of goods or services

You may bring an action before the Commercial Court of your opponent's home or the registered office of the establishment.

In terms of contract (rental, sale, provision of service...), you can bring the matter before the court of the place of delivery or the of the place of performance the provision of services.

Who shall I contact
Harmful fact

In matters relating to tort, you may bring an action before the Commercial Court of place of commission of the facts or the place of damage.

Who shall I contact

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General case

The lawyer is mandatory.

Who shall I contact

You can defend yourself alone in the following cases:

  • The claim shall be for an amount less than or equal to €10,000).
  • The request shall relate to the performance of an obligation the amount of which does not exceed €10,000 (e.g. goods that have not been delivered).
  • The request relates to a particular procedure (difficulty of a company...).

Safeguard, recovery and winding-up proceedings

You are exempt from legal representation where the claim is for an amount less than or equal to €10,000 in the context of safeguard, recovery and winding-up proceedings.

You may appear in person or be represented by the person of your choice. This representative must have a special power, that is, a letter instructing him or her to act on your behalf before the court.

Dispute relating to the keeping of the register of trade and businesses

The representation by counsel is not mandatory for disputes relating to the conduct of the SCR: titleContent.

You may appear in person or be represented by any person of your choice. The representative must have a special power, that is, a letter instructing him or her to act on your behalf.

FYI  

the register of trade and businesses is now integrated into the national company register.

Pledge

You are exempt from legal representation in the field of pledge stocks and pledges without dispossession (the debtor retains the pledged item and the creditor can be paid on the stocks).

You may appear in person or be represented by any person of your choice. This representative must have a special power, i.e. a letter instructing him or her to act in his or her place.

You must file a complaint with the court by subpoena or by a request wife

You can try to reconcile with your opponent.

If you find a amicable agreement, you can ask thecertify.

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Mutual agreement

You can try to resolve your dispute by reconciliation or a mediation at your initiative or at the initiative of the judge throughout thebody.

If the amicable settlement is successful, the commercial court counterpart your agreement.

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Assignment

If negotiation is not possible, you must bring an action before the commercial court by filing a subpoena to graft.

Your assignment must include mandatory information:

  • Identification of the parties: name, contact details, legal form (SA, SARL ...) of the business, registered office and body legally representing it (CEO, director ...)
  • Appointment of the competent court
  • Place, day and time of the hearing. You will obtain this information from the Commercial Court Registry
  • Indication of the mode of appearance of the defendant, i.e. whether he must take a lawyer and within what time frame
  • Subject matter of the request (grounds for your dispute, damages...)
  • List of documents on which the application is based, accompanied by a list of documents
  • Surname, forename, domicile, and signature of the Commissioner of Justice (ex-bailiff)

The summons shall be filed by a Commissioner of Justice. The summons must be issued to your opponent 15 days at least before the hearing date. The Commercial Court shall be validly seised when a copy of the summons is handed over to the Registry, at the latest 8 days before the date of the hearing. After this period, the summons is no longer valid.

FYI  

in urgent cases, the time limits for summons to appear and to be handed over may be reduced upon authorization by the president of the commercial court.

Joint Query

Joint motion is possible when the parties agree to have their dispute adjudicated before the commercial court.

You must file a joint motion setting out the dispute, your respective requests and your points of disagreement.

The matter shall be referred to the court by the delivery of the application.

Who shall I contact

For a dispute whose value does not exceed €5,000, you may appeal to the Court of Cassation.

For a dispute whose value exceeds €5,000, you can appeal against the decision of the Commercial Court.

Who shall I contact

The cost of the proceedings varies depending on the method chosen to bring the case before the court and the type of dispute. You can find out more on the website of the court concerned.

Who shall I contact

If you don't have enough resources, you can legal aid to cover all or part of these costs.

Alsace-Moselle

There is no commercial court in Alsace-Moselle (Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Moselle).

The Commercial Chamber of the court of law (Colmar, Mulhouse, Strasbourg, Sarreguemines, Metz, Thionville and Saverne) exercises the powers of the Commercial Court in these 3 departments.

The Chamber of Commerce is responsible for adjudicating disputes between traders and those concerning commercial acts.

It is also responsible for disputes between partners and collective proceedings (safeguard, recovery and liquidation).

You need to get a lawyer, except in some cases:

  • The claim shall be for an amount less than or equal to €10,000)
  • The request shall relate to the performance of an obligation the amount of which does not exceed €10,000 (for example, goods that have not been delivered)
  • The request relates to a specific procedure (bankruptcy...)
Who shall I contact

If the lawyer is not required, you can appear in person or be represented by a third party designated by you.

General case

In general, you can refer the matter to the Chamber of Commerce of the Commercial Court on which the domicile of the defendant .

If it is a legal person (business, company...), you can also refer the place where the registered office or the representative of the establishment concerned by the dispute.

If there is several respondents, you can refer the place where one of them lives to the commercial chamber of the court of justice.

Who shall I contact
Real estate

You must bring the matter before the Commercial Chamber of the Judicial Court of real estate(ex sale of real estate between traders).

Who shall I contact
Purchase of goods or services

You can refer the case to the commercial chamber of the court on which the your opponent's home or the registered office of the establishment.

In terms of contract (rental, sale, provision of service...), you can bring the matter before the commercial chamber of the court of justice of place of delivery or the of the place of performance the provision of services.

Who shall I contact

You must enter the commercial room by request wife or by subpoena at the Registry.

Who shall I contact

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Joint Query

The joint request is possible where the parties agree to have their dispute adjudicated before the commercial chamber of the judicial tribunal.

You must file a joint motion setting out the dispute, your respective requests and your points of disagreement.

The matter shall be referred to the court by the delivery of the application.

Who shall I contact

Assignment

You must bring an action before the Commercial Chamber of the Judicial Court by filing a subpoena to graft.

Who shall I contact

The summons shall be filed by a Commissioner of Justice.

For a dispute whose value does not exceed €5,000, you may appeal to the Court of Cassation.

For a dispute whose value exceeds €5,000However, you can appeal the decision.

Who shall I contact

The procedure is free.

Other costs may be added: lawyer, justice commissioner, expertise...

If you don't have enough resources, you can legal aid to cover all or part of these costs.

Who can help me?

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