Which Court Hears a Debt Claim in France?

Which court hears a debt claim in France?

When a French debtor does not pay, the first strategic decision is not how to sue but where. French civil justice is divided between specialist courts, and filing your debt claim in the wrong one wastes time and money: the court will decline jurisdiction, and you start again elsewhere. The which court debt claim France question therefore has to be answered before a writ is ever drafted.

The answer is driven by the character of the debtor and of the underlying obligation. A debt owed by a trader or a commercial company, arising from its business, is commercial and belongs before the commercial court (tribunal de commerce). A debt owed by a private individual, a civil company or a professional acting outside any commercial activity is a civil matter and belongs before the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire). Between these poles sit mixed situations, where one party is a trader and the other is not, and here the creditor is often given a choice.

A third variable now overlays the map. Since 1 January 2025, twelve commercial courts have been renamed and reorganised as tribunaux des activités économiques under a pilot reform, with a broader remit over economic disputes. For a foreign business, the practical task is to place your claim correctly the first time — which is where this guide, and our note on how to recover an unpaid invoice in France, come in.

The commercial court (tribunal de commerce) for commercial debts

The commercial court is the natural forum for business-to-business debt recovery. Under Article L721-3 of the Commercial Code, the tribunal de commerce hears all disputes relating to commitments between traders, between artisans, and involving commercial companies. If your debtor is a commercial company (an SAS, an SARL, an SA) or a registered trader, and the debt was incurred for the purposes of its business, that is where a debt claim belongs.

The commercial character of the contract is assessed at the moment it was concluded. The Cour de cassation has confirmed that the commercial court keeps jurisdiction over a dispute arising from acts of commerce carried out by a trader in the course of its business, even where that trader has since been struck off the commercial register. The label the parties later attach to the relationship does not move the case; the nature of the original commitment does.

The commercial court's reach extends beyond simple unpaid invoices. It also decides claims founded on promissory notes and bills of exchange, disputes between shareholders, and — importantly for creditors — insolvency proceedings (redressement or liquidation judiciaire) opened against a commercial or artisanal business. French case law has placed a wide range of commercial actors before this court: a commercially incorporated firm of accountants, a property-diagnostics expert, and a financial adviser recovering fees tied to the sale of a controlling shareholding have all been held to fall within its jurisdiction.

The boundary is not limitless. Where a company acts in a capacity that is not commercial — for example, a company acting as a syndic managing a co-ownership and sued over orders placed for the co-owners — the Cour de cassation has sent the dispute to the judicial court instead. The test is always substantive: it looks at what the debtor was actually doing, not merely at its corporate form.

The tribunal des activités économiques: a reform being rolled out

The most significant recent change to the which court debt claim France analysis is the arrival of the tribunal des activités économiques (TAE). Since 1 January 2025, twelve commercial courts have been operating under this name and expanded remit: Avignon, Auxerre, Le Havre, Le Mans, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy, Nanterre, Paris, Saint-Brieuc and Versailles. The reform flows from the justice programming law of 20 November 2023 and its 2024 implementing order.

The reform is deliberately framed as an experiment, not a finished overhaul. It runs for a defined period in the twelve pilot courts and will be assessed in an evaluation report before any decision is taken to generalise it to every commercial court in France. In practice this means that, for now, whether your case is heard by a tribunal de commerce or a tribunal des activités économiques depends simply on the geographic location of the competent court — the underlying rules on jurisdiction over a debt claim are the same.

The design goal of the TAE is to widen the economic court's scope so that a single specialist forum can handle economic and business-distress litigation across a broader range of actors than the traditional commercial court reached. That broadening matters most in insolvency and business-difficulty proceedings; for ordinary debt recovery, a creditor suing a commercial company will notice little difference in substance between the two labels.

The judicial court (tribunal judiciaire) for civil and mixed matters

The tribunal judiciaire is the general-law civil court, and it hears a debt claim whenever the commercial court has no jurisdiction. That is the case where the debtor is neither a trader nor a commercial company, or where the debtor is a trader but the debt was not incurred in the course of its commercial activity. A supplier chasing a private individual, a civil (non-commercial) company or a liberal professional acting outside any commercial act will sue here.

The judicial court took its present shape from the 2019–2020 court reform, which merged the former tribunaux de grande instance and tribunaux d'instance into a single tribunal judiciaire. Smaller matters are handled by a tribunal de proximity or a proximity chamber of the judicial court, which deals in particular with debt claims of up to 10,000 euros brought against private individuals. Certain consumer-facing debts — those linked to a residential lease or to consumer credit — are reserved to a specialist judge, the juge des contentieux de la protection, sitting within the judicial court.

For the foreign creditor, the practical point is that a debt owed by a non-trader is a civil debt, and civil debts go to the judicial court. Because a business selling into France will usually be dealing with commercial companies, most B2B invoice disputes end up before the commercial court or the TAE; the judicial court comes into play mainly where the customer is a private consumer, a professional partnership or a civil-law entity. Our note on jurisdiction and jurisdiction clauses explains how a well-drafted contract can fix this in advance.

Why the debtor's status decides the court

The recurring theme in the which court debt claim France question is that the debtor's status, not the creditor's, sets the default forum. A commercial debt is one owed by a trader or commercial company in the course of its business; that goes to the commercial court. A civil debt goes to the judicial court. The creditor's own status changes the picture only at the margins, and mainly by adding an option rather than removing the default.

The clearest example is the mixed situation. Where the debtor is a trader or a commercial company but the creditor is not, the Cour de cassation has long held that the non-trading creditor enjoys an option: it may sue either before the commercial court or before the judicial court. The reverse is not true — a trader creditor cannot drag a non-trading, purely civil debtor before the commercial court simply because the trader would prefer that forum. The protection runs in favour of the party who is not a merchant.

Territorial competence is a separate question that arises once the type of court is fixed. As a rule, the creditor sues in the court of the place where the defendant is domiciled. But where the claim rests on a contract — the usual case in debt recovery — the creditor may instead choose the court of the place of actual delivery of the goods or the place where the services were performed. This gives an unpaid seller a measure of tactical choice, particularly against a debtor located far from where the goods were received.

Amount thresholds and when a lawyer is mandatory

Two monetary thresholds shape how a debt claim proceeds, whichever court hears it. The first concerns legal representation. Since 1 January 2020, a lawyer is compulsory to recover a sum exceeding 10,000 euros before the commercial court, and the same threshold applies before the judicial court. Below 10,000 euros the parties may present themselves in person, or be assisted or represented by a person of their choice holding a special written authority; this is why a small creditor can, in principle, run the claim without counsel.

The second threshold concerns appeal. Where the claim does not exceed 5,000 euros, the court rules in the last resort — no appeal is available to either the creditor or the debtor. Above 5,000 euros an appeal to the court of appeal is possible, and must be lodged within one month of service of the judgment. Since 2020, first-instance judgments in these matters are provisionally enforceable as of right, so a debtor who appeals must still pay unless the court has ordered otherwise.

These figures are worth building into your recovery strategy from the outset. A claim just above 10,000 euros carries the cost of mandatory representation; a claim at or below 5,000 euros is decided once and for all, with the certainty and the finality that brings. For cross-border creditors, the compulsory-lawyer rule above 10,000 euros is rarely a burden, because instructing a French lawyer to handle service, enrolment and pleadings is advisable well before that figure in any event.

Interim relief (référé) versus a decision on the merits

Choosing the right court is only half of the decision; the creditor must also choose the right procedure within it. Where the debt is clear and not seriously contested, a full action on the merits is often unnecessary. The référé-provision — an application for interim relief — allows the creditor to obtain, in roughly a month, an order requiring the debtor to pay a provisional sum that is immediately enforceable. It is a simple, fast and comparatively inexpensive route to a title against a debtor with no real defence.

The référé is heard by the president of the competent court. Where both creditor and debtor are traders or commercial companies and the debt was incurred for the debtor's business, the application goes to the president of the commercial court — or of the tribunal des activités économiques in the twelve pilot cities. Where the debt is not commercial, it goes to the president of the judicial court; certain protected matters go to the juge des contentieux de la protection. The which court debt claim France analysis in a référé therefore mirrors the analysis on the merits.

The order is provisional and contradictory. Provisional means the debtor remains free, in theory, to bring a full action on the merits, and the trial court would not be bound by the interim order — though in practice a debtor almost never does so once a référé-provision has been granted. Contradictory means the creditor must defend the file in the debtor's presence, with the debtor able to argue its side; this exchange can make the référé quicker overall than an order-to-pay, where the debtor can force a full hearing by lodging an opposition.

A word of caution: because the order is provisionally enforceable, the creditor who enforces does so at its own risk. The Cour de cassation has repeatedly held that a party enforcing a provisionally enforceable decision must make good the harm caused if the title is later overturned. A creditor should avoid disproportionate enforcement — an excessive seizure, for instance — against a debtor who appeals.

Matching your debt claim to the right court

Bringing the strands together, the choice of court for a debt claim in France follows a short chain of questions about the debtor, the debt and the amount. The table below maps the common situations, and the steps that follow set out a practical method for placing your own claim before the correct forum the first time.

For a mixed situation — a trader debtor and a non-trader creditor — read the commercial-court row as an option: the non-trading creditor may choose the judicial court instead. Where the debtor is in another EU state, overlay the Brussels I bis rules described above before applying this table.

Frequently asked questions about which court hears a debt claim in France

Which court hears an unpaid-invoice claim in France?

It depends on the debtor. If the debtor is a trader or a commercial company that incurred the debt in its business, the commercial court (tribunal de commerce) has jurisdiction under Article L721-3 of the Commercial Code. If the debtor is a non-trader or acted outside any commercial activity, the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire) hears the claim.

What is the tribunal des activités économiques?

It is a reformed economic court. Since 1 January 2025, twelve former commercial courts have operated as tribunaux des activités économiques under a pilot introduced by the law of 20 November 2023, with a broader remit over economic and insolvency litigation. The scheme will be evaluated before any nationwide roll-out, so for now only twelve cities are affected.

Do I need a lawyer to bring a debt claim in France?

A lawyer is compulsory where the sum claimed exceeds 10,000 euros, before both the commercial court and the judicial court. Below that figure the parties may appear in person or be assisted or represented by a person of their choice. In practice, instructing a French lawyer early is advisable well before that threshold.

When is a debt commercial rather than civil?

A debt is commercial when it is owed by a trader, artisan or commercial company and was incurred in the course of that business. Commercial character is assessed at the time the commitment was made. A debt owed by a private individual or by a company acting in a non-commercial capacity is civil and belongs before the judicial court.

What is a référé-provision?

It is a fast-track application for interim relief. Where the debt is clear and not seriously contested, the president of the competent court can order the debtor, in about a month, to pay a provisional sum that is immediately enforceable. The order is provisional and contradictory, but in practice a debtor rarely reopens the matter on the merits afterwards.

Can I choose the court if my debtor is a company but I am not a trader?

Yes, in that mixed situation you have an option. The Cour de cassation has held that a non-trading creditor suing a trader or commercial company may bring the claim either before the commercial court or before the judicial court. The reverse does not apply: a trader cannot force a purely civil debtor before the commercial court.

Where do I sue a French debtor geographically?

As a rule you sue in the court of the place where the debtor is domiciled. On a contractual debt you may instead choose the court of the place of actual delivery of the goods or of performance of the services. If the debtor is in another EU state, the Brussels I bis Regulation governs, generally pointing to the debtor's state or the place of performance.

How our French lawyers help with choosing the right court for a debt claim

Petroff Avocats acts for creditors and debtors on both sides of French debt disputes. For a creditor, we assess the debtor's status, characterise the debt, identify the competent court — commercial court, tribunal des activités économiques or judicial court — and select the fastest route, whether a référé-provision, an order to pay or an action on the merits, handling service, enrolment and pleadings. For a debtor, we test whether the chosen court in fact has jurisdiction, challenge an improperly seised court, and defend the substance of the claim. In cross-border matters we apply the Brussels I bis rules and advise on jurisdiction clauses before a dispute ever arises.

This article is for general information only. It does not constitute legal advice and cannot replace advice tailored to your circumstances. The rules on court jurisdiction and the tribunal des activités économiques reform continue to evolve. Contact our French lawyers for advice on your situation.