Bring the matter before the local court

Verified 01 March 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The local court has jurisdiction where the amount of applications is less than or equal to €10,000. The matter is referred to the court by query or by assignment. We present you the information to know.

Warning  

Depending on where you need to initiate the procedure, you may need to refer the matter to the judicial court and not the community court. The procedure for bringing a civil dispute before the court until €10,000 is identical to that before the local court.

The local court deals with most of the small civil disputes of daily life. For example: unpaid debts, non-compliant deliveries, poorly executed work, repayment of a product, a service.

The local court has jurisdiction where the amount of applications is less than or equal to €10,000.

If you cannot quantify the value of your dispute (for example, if you request the cancelation of a contract), you must refer the matter to the judicial court.

FYI  

Specific procedures exist to refer your dispute to the local court when it concerns protection measures (for example, guardianship or trusteeship), housing leases, consumer credit, over-indebtedness. In these situations, you must enter the protection litigation judge.

You can bring the case before the court as particular to act against another individual.

Example :

You buy an item from €500 put up for sale on the internet by another individual. You pay the seller but they don't send you the item. You can go to court to get the seller to pay you back €500.

You can also apply to the court as particular to act against a professional (a trader or a craftsman for example).

Example :

A craftsman must carry out work at your home for an amount of €6,000. You pay a deposit of €600 to the craftsman, but the latter does not come to carry out the work on time. You can apply to the court to order the craftsman to repay the deposit.

If you are an association or a professional, you can also apply to the local court to take action against an individual.

The competent court shall be that of where your opponent resides.

However, for some disputes, you can choose to go to a court other than your opponent's.

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General case

The competent court shall be that of where your opponent resides.

If your opponent does not have a known domicile or residence, you can apply to the court of your domicile (or the court of your choice if you live abroad).

Contract (purchase of goods or services)

In the field of contract (purchase, rental, sale, provision of services, etc.), you may bring an action before the court of the place of delivery or the the place where the service is provided.

If you are a consumer in your dispute, you may bring the matter before the court in the place where you lived at the time the contract was concluded or the damage occurred.

In any case, you can also choose to apply to the court of where your opponent resides.

Damage (excluding contract)

In the field of compensation for damage (outside contract), you can also apply to the place where you suffered the damage or the court of place where the event giving rise to the damage occurred.

In any case, you can also choose to apply to the court of where your opponent resides.

Insurance

The court of competent jurisdiction depends on the type of dispute in which the insurance is to intervene.

General case

The competent court is that of the insured's domicile.

In case of accident

The competent court is that of the insured's domicile or that of the accident site.

Home insurance

The competent court shall be the court of the place of the goods concerned.

You must address your request to the judge of the local court.

If you ask for a interim relief or a order on application, you must address your request to the president of the local court.

You must mandatory attempt a conciliation, mediation or participatory procedure when the amount of your requests is less than or equal à €5,000. This is also the case for certain specific disputes (e.g. abnormal neighborhood disturbances, boundary actions, etc.).

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

You can use the query only when the request amount does not exceed €5,000.

To determine the value of the dispute, you must take into account the total amount of your claims.

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 make a joint application, even if the amount of the applications exceeds €5,000.

Query

You can prepare the application yourself or ask a lawyer to do so.

In this case, you need to pay your lawyer unless you get legal aid total.

Who shall I contact

You can use the following template or write it on free paper:

Application for referral to the judicial or local court

You must attach to your request the copies of your supporting documents (invoice, contract, quotation, proof of the attempt at conciliation...).

Warning  

You must attach to your request a tax stamp of 50 €, unless you are a beneficiary of legal aid.

You can request that the proceedings proceed without a hearing using the following form:

Consent to conduct proceedings without a hearing - Oral proceedings before the judicial tribunal or the protection litigation judge

The request must include the following:

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

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

The request must be dated and signed.

FYI  

It is possible to ask for a sum corresponding to the costs you had to incur for the procedure (travel expenses, stamps...).

The completed application must be filed or sent by post to the competent court.

Once the request saved by the graft, you shall be notified by the court of the place, day and time of the hearing. Your opponent is summoned by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.

Assignment

You can go to court by having your opponent deliver a assignment by a commissioner of justice.

Your summons must include mandatory information:

  • Designation of the competent court
  • Place, day and time of the hearing (information you must obtain from the court)
  • Subject of the claim (damages, delivery of goods, cancelation of a contract...)
  • Full identity of the parties
  • Reasons for the dispute
  • Parts List
  • Company steps towards an amicable resolution of the dispute or justification for waiving such an attempt
  • How your opponent appears before the court, i.e. whether he must take a lawyer, within what period
  • Consequences in case of non-appearance of your opponent.

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

The summons constitutes your conclusions, that is to say, your requests and your arguments.

FYI  

It is possible to ask for a sum corresponding to the costs you had to incur for the procedure (travel expenses, stamps...).

An assignment template is available:

Assignment template without mandatory representation

The summons may be drafted by a lawyer.

In this case, you need to pay your lawyer unless you get legal aid total.

Who shall I contact

You can request in your subpoena that the proceedings proceed without a hearing.

Warning  

You must attach to your subpoena a tax stamp of 50 €, unless you are a beneficiary of legal aid.

The summons must be filed in court at least 15 days before the hearing date.

Failure to meet deadlines leads to sunset of the assignment, that is to say that the assignment is null and that you must redo a new one.

Joint motion

In agreement with your opponent, you can bring a joint application to the court by submitting it to the registry.

The request, signed jointly by the parties, shall indicate the points of agreement and the points of disagreement.

The request must include the following:

  • Full identity of the parties
  • Court seised
  • Subject of the claim (damages, delivery of goods, cancelation of a contract...)
  • Reasons for the dispute
  • List of parts.

It must be dated and signed.

The proceedings may be conducted without a hearing. In this case, the joint application must include the agreement of the applicants.

Warning  

You must attach to your request a tax stamp of 50 €, unless you are a beneficiary of legal aid.

FYI  

To obtain urgent interim measures, pending the main trial, you can use a interim proceedings.

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

Your eventual lawyer's fees and costs of commissioner of justice (to have the assignment issued for example) are at your expense.

If your resources are insufficient, you can receive legal aid to cover all or part of these costs.

Please note

If you lose your business, you may be ordered to repay the costs of the trial to your opponent.

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