To bring proceedings before the Court of Justice

Verified 29 November 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You want to go to court? The legal claim is made by subpoena. The request may also be made by query. We present you with the information you need to know.

The court of justice shall have jurisdiction to try all civil cases that the law did not entrust to a specialized court such as the labor council, the commercial court, the joint rural leases tribunal...

For some disputes, the court of justice is the only court with jurisdiction (for example, action for medical liability, action for liability in connection with a building, challenge of decisions at general meetings).

Some courts are specialized and have exclusive jurisdiction over certain matters (e.g. social security disputes).

The court of competent jurisdiction is that of your opponent's domicile, called defendant (or one of your opponents).

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

In terms of compensation for damage you can go to the court or from the place where damage has been suffered..

In some cases, the law shall designate a court other than your opponent's home:

  • If the case concerns a building, you must bring the matter before the court of the place where the building is located
  • If the case concerns a succession, you must bring the matter before the court of the last domicile of the deceased.
Who shall I contact

The activity of the court is divided between different services depending on the type of dispute. There are judges specialized in certain subjects (protection of adults, divorce...)

If the material is entrusted to a specialized judge of the court, the file of the proceedings will be sent to him. This may be the family judge, of protection litigation judge, of enforcement court.

Requests for interlocutory andorder on application shall be addressed to the President of the Judicial Tribunal.

Tableau - Jurisdiction of the judge according to the type of case

Type of business

Competent department or judge

Guardianship, home lease, consumer credit, debt overhang

Protection Litigation Judge

Divorce, parental authority

Family Court Judge

Seizures, attachment of wages, difficulties in the execution of a court decision

Enforcement Judge

Social security and disability litigation

Judicial Court, Social Center

Right of persons (marital status, filiation, adoption...)

Judicial Tribunal

Successions

Judicial Tribunal

Real Estate

Judicial Tribunal

Other civil cases

Judicial Tribunal

Please note

Disputes relating to the protection of adults and disputes of a value not exceeding €10,000 (excluding specialized subjects) shall be tried in the community court.

The matter shall be referred to the Court by subpoena or by request. The type of referral depends on the nature of the case or the value of the dispute.

FYI  

You can obtain interim measures in the event of an emergency by using a interim proceedings.

Assignment

You have to go to court by assignment when the value of the dispute is greater than €5,000 or where the lawyer is obligatory.

The summons shall be issued to the defendant by a commissioner of justice.

Mandatory particulars

The assignment shall include mandatory particulars:

  • Appointment of the competent court
  • Place, day and time of the hearing (information to be obtained from the court)
  • Purpose of the claim (damages, delivery of property, cancelation of a contract...)
  • Full identity of the parties
  • Grounds for the dispute
  • Parts List
  • Company steps towards an amicable resolution of the dispute or justification for waiving such an attempt
  • How your opponent will appear before the court, i.e. if he has to take a lawyer, within what time frame
  • Consequences if your opponent does not appear.

You must encrypt your requests (€100 of damages for example).

The summons constitutes the conclusions of the applicant that is, his demands and his arguments.

FYI  

You can request a sum corresponding to the costs incurred for the procedure (travel expenses, stamps...).

You can request in the assignment that the procedure take place without a hearing.

Filing of the summons

You must to file the summons at least to the court 15 days before the hearing date.

Whether the date of the hearing has been communicated electronically, the summons shall be filed within the 2 months from this communication.

Failure to comply with the time limits shall result in the obsolescence of the assignment, that is, the assignment is null and you have to make a new one.

If the dispute concerns a procedure in which representation by counsel is mandatoryWell, it's the lawyer who writes the summons.

Who shall I contact

The defendant shall have 15 days from the date of issue of the summons to choose a lawyer. The latter shall transmit to the court his instrument of constitution that is, the document designating him as a lawyer.

Query

You must apply to the court by motion for claims for payment of a sum not exceeding €5,000 and for certain specific disputes (abnormal neighborhood disorders, borderline actions, etc.).

An attempt to conciliation, mediation or a participatory procedure is obligatory before the introduction of the request for claims for payment of a sum not exceeding €5,000.

You can use a query template 

Application for referral to the Court of Justice

The request may be made on free paper.

Mandatory particulars

The query should include the following:

  • Full identity of the parties
  • Court seised
  • Purpose of the claim (damages, delivery of property, cancelation of a contract...)
  • Grounds for the dispute
  • Company steps towards an amicable resolution of the dispute or the justification for waiving such an attempt
  • List of parts.

You must encrypt your requests (€100 damages, for example).

The request must be dated and signed.

Transmission of the request

The completed query must be deposited or transmitted by post to graft of the competent court.

Once the motion is transmitted or filed, the parties are notified by the court of the place, day and time of the hearing. The defendant is called by registered letter with notice of receipt.

You can request in the request that the procedure proceed without hearing.

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

The request may be made at any time during the procedure.

Joint Query

In agreement with your opponent, you may bring an action before the court by surrendering to the court joint request.

This query should show the points of agreement and points of disagreement between you and your opponent.

The query should include the following:

  • Full identity of the parties
  • Court seised
  • Purpose of the claim (damages, delivery of property, cancelation of a contract...)
  • Grounds for the dispute
  • List of parts.

It must be dated and signed.

Please note

The procedure may take place without hearing. In this case, the joint request must include the agreement of the parties.

The procedure itself is free.

As a plaintiff, you must pay the commissioner of justice who issued the subpoena and the lawyer he assigned to the case. Other costs may be added in the course of the procedure, such as expertise costs.

The applicant and the defendant may benefit from legal aid to cover all or part of the costs if their resources are insufficient.

Please note

The party who loses the proceedings is in principle ordered to pay the costs, i.e. costs of the trial.

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