Justice

Companies in difficulty: designation and establishment of economic activity tribunals

Publié le 16 juillet 2024 - Mise à jour le 17 décembre 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

An order of 5 July 2024 designates the 12 commercial courts that will become courts of economic activities from 1er January 2025. Explanations.

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As part of the Ministry of Justice’s Policy and Programming Act 2023-2027, Economic Activity Courts (EATs) will be tested for 4 years starting in 2025.

The establishment of these courts is intended to extend the jurisdiction of the present commercial courts to amicable and collective proceedings.

What will be the competences of the economic activity courts?

From 1er January 2025, regardless of the status and activity of the debtor, EATs will have jurisdiction to decide on:

  • the alerting procedures and amicable proceedings ;
  • the appointment of a conciliator (only for agricultural holdings in difficulty);
  • the collective proceedings ;
  • the actions and challenges relating to commercial leases arising from the safeguard, reorganization or winding-up proceedings of the debtor presenting with it sufficient connectivity links. Other actions relating to commercial leases will remain with the courts;
  • the procedures what is known to the specially designated commercial court.

FYI  

The provisions on the powers of the TAEs in mutual and collective proceedings do not concern debtors engaged in a regulated legal profession (lawyer, notary, bailiff, judicial auctioneer, registrar of TAE or commercial court, court administrator and judicial agent).

Please note

Before the Economic Activities Tribunal, the parties are exempted from the obligation to have a lawyer in the following cases:

  • the claim shall be for an amount not exceeding € 10 000;
  • the claim arises from the performance of an obligation which does not exceed € 10 000.

This exemption concerns procedures relating to companies' difficulties (prevention, safeguard, judicial redress, judicial winding-up), disputes relating to the conduct of the SCR: titleContent and the agricultural amicable settlement procedure.

It is nevertheless possible to be assisted or represented by any person of your choice.

Which courts will be responsible for economic activities?

The following commercial courts have been designated to become tribunals of economic activities from 1er january 2025 :

Tableau - Lists of economic activity courts as of January 1, 2025

Commercial courts

Court of Appeal

Paris Commercial Court

Paris Court of Appeal

Commercial Court of Marseille

Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence

Commercial Court of Lyon

Lyon Court of Appeal

Commercial Court of Nanterre

Versailles Court of Appeal

Commercial Court of Limoges

Limoges Court of Appeal

Tribunal de commerce d'Avignon

Court of Appeal of Nîmes

Tribunal de commerce d'Auxerre

Paris Court of Appeal

Saint-Brieuc Commercial Court

Court of Appeal of Rennes

Tribunal de commerce du Havre

Rouen Court of Appeal

Tribunal de Commerce de Nancy

Court of Appeal of Nancy

Versailles Commercial Court

Versailles Court of Appeal

Tribunal de commerce du Mans

Angers Court of Appeal

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