Bring the matter before the judicial court

The court of law has jurisdiction to try all civil cases that the law has not entrusted to a specialized court such as the labor court council, the commercial court, the joint tribunal for rural leases...

For some disputes, the court of law is the only competent court (for example, medical liability action, liability action related to a building construction, challenge of decisions at a general meeting).

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

The competent judicial tribunal shall be that of your opponent's home, called defendant (or one of your opponents).

In the field of contract (purchase, rental, sale, provision of services, etc.), you can also take the matter to court of the place of delivery or the of the place of performance the provision of services.

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

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

• If the case concerns a building, you must bring the matter before the court of the place where the immovable is situated
• If the case concerns a succession, you must bring the matter before the court of the last domicile of the deceased person.

The activity of the judicial tribunal is shared 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, it is to this specialized judge that your request must be addressed. It may be the family affairs judge, of protection litigation judge, of judge of execution.

Where the matter is not assigned to a specialized judge, ordinary applications are made to the judicial tribunal and applications for interim relief andorder on application shall be addressed to the President of the Judicial Tribunal.

You must bring the matter before the court by assignment or by query.

The use of a lawyer may be mandatory depending on the type of procedure and the amount of the dispute. Before you begin your steps, check if you need to get a lawyer.

An attempt to conciliation, mediation or participatory procedure is mandatory before the introduction of the query for claims for payment of a sum not exceeding €5,000. This is also the case for certain specific disputes (e.g. abnormal neighborhood disturbances, boundary actions, etc.).

The request is possible when the amount of your requests does not exceed €5,000 or in certain matters laid down by law (for example, guardianship or parental authority).

To determine the value of the dispute, the total amount of requests. Sometimes you cannot quantify the value of the dispute (for example, if you request the cancelation of a contract). In this case, you must bring the matter before the court by subpoena.

If you agree with your opponent to have your dispute decided by the court, you can use a joint motion.

The type of referral depends on the nature of the case or value of the dispute.

You have to pay a fiscal stamp from €50 to bring your claim to justice, unless you are a beneficiary of legal aid.

However, you must pay your lawyer and the commissioner of justice responsible for issuing theassignment. Other costs may be added during the procedure, such as the costs of an expert's report.

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