In
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the ''Tribunal d'instance'' (literally "Court of First Instance") is a judicial lower court of record of first instance for general civil suits and includes a criminal division, the Police Court (''tribunal de police''), which hears cases of misdemeanors or summary offences (''contraventions''). Since it has
original jurisdiction
In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision.
India
In India, the Su ...
, the Court's rulings may be appealed to a French
appellate court
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
or
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. The court was formerly known as a Justice of the Peace Court (''justice de paix'') until the judicial restructuring of 1958.
In the Court, proceedings are conducted based on oral testimony and arguments, and, unlike in higher courts, legal counsel is not mandatory.
Other judicial courts of original jurisdiction are:
*Magistrate courts (''juge de proximité'') - for small claims and petty misdemeanors (since 1 July 2017 these claims now fall under the jurisdiction of the tribunal d'instance)
*High courts (''tribunal de grande instance'') - handles complex suits and has a criminal section, the Criminal Court (''tribunal correctionnel''), that hears cases involving minor felonies or indictable offences (''délits'')
*Commercial court (''
Tribunal de commerce
In France, the ''tribunal de commerce'' (plural ''tribunaux de commerce'', literally "commercial courts") are the oldest courts in the French judicial organization. They were created at the end of the Middle Ages.
The commercial court has jur ...
'')
*Employment Tribunal (''
Conseil des prud'hommes'')
*
Agricultural Land Tribunal
In France, the Agricultural Land Tribunal (in French: ''tribunal paritaire des baux ruraux'') hears disputes between landlords and tenants of agricultural land regarding various forms of lease or contract for tenancy and the working of land.{{Cit ...
(''tribunal paritaire des baux ruraux'')
*
Social security tribunal {{Short description, Type of French civil court
In France, the Social security tribunal (in French: ''tribunal des affaires de la sécurité sociale'') rules on disputes between social security funds (caisses de sécurité sociale) and users, for ...
(''tribunal des affaires de sécurité sociale'')
Degrees of jurisdiction
As a general rule, the French court system is divided into three degrees of jurisdiction:
*
Original
Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...
or general jurisdiction for the first hearing of cases;
* Appellate jurisdiction for appeals from lower courts;
* Courts of last resort for appeals from appellate courts on the interpretation of law.
Duties
The Court has civil jurisdiction over personal property claims, monetary claims not exceeding 10,000
euros
The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...
, and other civil actions for which the court has exclusive jurisdiction, those being:
[See: ]Serge Guinchard
Serge Guinchard (born May 9, 1946) is a French jurist who formerly taught at the Law School of Dakar and Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 and most recently at Panthéon-Assas University, where he is now Professor emeritus. He has also held political ...
, André Varinard and Thierry Debard, "Institutions juriidctionnelles" (judicial institutions), Dalloz editor, 2011.
* Private property leases
* Disputes relating to the elections of personnel delegates.
* the distance questions and height of the plantations.
* the movable credit to the consumption up to €21,500.
* Asset seizure
* Defamation suits
* Guardianship of
minors and disabled persons
* Voter registration
Claims over 10,000 euros, unless in the above exclusive areas of law, fall under the civil jurisdiction of superior courts.{{Citation needed, date=February 2007
See also
*
Justice in France
*
Court of Cassation (France)
The Court of Cassation (french: Cour de cassation ) is one of the four courts of last resort in France. It has jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters triable in the judicial system; it is the supreme court of appeal in these cases. It ...
*
Cour d'assises
In France, a ''cour d'assises'', or Court of Assizes or Assize Court, is a criminal trial court with original and appellate limited jurisdiction to hear cases involving defendants accused of felonies, meaning crimes as defined in French law. I ...
*
Agricultural Land Tribunal
In France, the Agricultural Land Tribunal (in French: ''tribunal paritaire des baux ruraux'') hears disputes between landlords and tenants of agricultural land regarding various forms of lease or contract for tenancy and the working of land.{{Cit ...
(Tribunal paritaire des baux ruraux)
*
Juge d'instruction
References
External links
Competences of the TI, proximity jurisdiction and TGI, national Assembly (February 24 2005)Guide practices procedure in front of the tribunal d'instancepartie 2partie 3
Judiciary of France
Courts by type
Tribunals