Court recovery: order for payment in France and Europe

Verified 27 November 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

A company must react quickly to get its unpaid bills paid. If the amicable recovery fails (recovery by telephone, formal notice), it can file an order for payment with the court (commercial or judicial). When the debtor is domiciled in another Member StateEU (EU), (with the exception of Denmark), the European order for payment procedure may be used.

In France

The order for payment procedure can be used by the creditor to force a debtor to pay its debt or debts.

It can be engaged, whatever the amount of the claim, in one of the following:

  • The claim is from a contract. The amount of the debt must be entered in the contract. For example, a purchase from a merchant, a loan, an unpaid invoice, a bank overdraft, an acknowledgement of debt, an unpaid rent, a surety.
  • The claim is derived from a statutory obligation. For example, debts owed to social agencies, professional bodies, or Urssaf contributions.
  • The claim is derived from a commercial act. It can be a bill of exchange, one promissory note, an assignment of professional debt .

Warning  

NSF checks are not affected by the order for payment. Indeed, there are specific recovery procedures.

The claim shall not be prescribed. It must be certain, liquid and payable, i.e. it cannot reasonably be contested by the debtor. It must have expired and its amount must be determined.

The creditor shall bring an action before the commercial or judicial court of the place where the debtor is located:

  • The commercial court is competent in the following situations:
    • Where both creditor and debtor are traders. For example, the debtor has not paid an invoice for a sale of goods.
    • In a commercial lease, where the landlord makes a request for payment against the tenant.
    • Where the claim is the result of an act of commerce (bill of exchange, Dailly slip).
  • The court of law is competent in other cases: where the debtor is an individual or is engaged in a professional activity, for example.

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Application to the Commercial Court

An application for an order for payment can be made either by completing a paper form or by using an online service.

By paper form

The creditor must use the Cerfa form 12946

Application for an order for payment to the President of the Commercial Court

The application must be accompanied by the documents justifying the existence of the claim. Examples of such documents are:

  • Purchase order and/or contract
  • Unpaid invoice copy
  • Letter from formal notice to pay
  • Bill of exchange

The creditor must send or lodge his application (application) at the registry of the commercial court of the place of registered office of the debtor :

Who shall I contact

Please note

In Alsace-Moselle, it's the commercial chamber of the judicial tribunal who is competent.

Before the Commercial Court, the creditor must pay the costs of registry in the amount of €33.47.

Online

The Digital Court allows for the use of digital means of bringing proceedings before commercial courts. It can be used to send an application (request) for an order for payment.

Digital court

Documents justifying the existence of the claim must be attached. For example, it is one of the following documents:

  • Purchase order and/or contract
  • Unpaid invoice copy
  • Letter from formal notice to pay
  • Bill of exchange accepted and unpaid income

Application to the Court of Justice

The creditor must use Form Cerfa No. 12948:

Application for an order for payment before the President of the Court of Justice

The application (or application) for an order for payment must be accompanied by the supporting documents.

Examples of such documents are:

  • Purchase order and/or contract
  • Unpaid invoice copy
  • Letter from formal notice to pay
  • Bill of exchange accepted and unpaid income

An application for an order for payment must be sent or lodged at the registry of the court of the place where the debtor has his registered office or domicile.

Who shall I contact

FYI  

There are no court costs.

Please note

The use of a lawyer is not mandatory. However, the creditor may decide to appoint a lawyer, a commissioner of justice (former bailiff) or an agent to file the application.

There's no no audience before the court and the procedure is not pitch contradictory, that is, the judge makes a decision based solely on the produced items by the creditor, without hearing the debtor's arguments.

The President of the Court examines the documents produced in order to assess whether he considers the application to be well founded (in whole or in part), or whether he should reject it.

When the judge receives the application for an order for payment, he has three options:

  • Reject request. The creditor has no recourse. He cannot appeal, but he can initiate a judicial summons for payment procedure.
  • Accept Request. The judge issues an order for payment. The Registry shall provide the creditor with a certified copy of the application and a copy of the order for payment containing the enforcement order.
  • Consider the application to be partially substantiated. The judge then issues an order for payment for only part of the amount requested. For example, a creditor applied for an order for payment up to €7,000 but makes an order up to €4,000. The creditor may then:
    • waive the order for payment procedure. It may decide to initiate a standard judicial procedure.
    • continue to enforce the order but without being able to initiate any other procedure to recover the €3,000 remaining

For the order to be enforced, the creditor must make it signify by a commissioner of justice.

The service must be made in a six-month period from the date of the order. If the order is not served within that period, it lapses (i.e. is rescinded).

The document of service shall include the following information:

  • Summons to pay the amount of the order, interest and costs of the court proceedings
  • Possibility for the debtor to contest the order within one month of service. The debtor is warned that if he does not object, he will no longer be able to exercise any remedy.
  • Warning to the debtor that he can read the supporting documents provided by the creditor to the Registry. The supporting documents provided by the creditor are also accessible via the Mescoins.fr platform. If these documents cannot be made available on the platform, they must be attached to the application at the time of service.

Mespieces.fr

If the order served is not contested by the debtor, it becomes a enforceable title. It produces the effects of a final judgment, i.e. not subject to appeal. The creditor is thus authorized to take measures ofenforcement (e.g. foreclosure) in the event of non-payment of the claim.

FYI  

The service of the order for payment entails Commissioner of Justice fees that are paid by the creditor.

The debtor may challenge the order for payment. To do so, he must lodge an objection (by filling in a specific form) within 1 month of significance the order for payment.

If he objects, he does not have to comply with the order, that is to say pay the amount claimed: it says that the opposition is suspensive.

The objection must be made before the court that issued the order for payment: either the commercial court or the judicial court.

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Opposition before the Commercial Court

In order to file an objection, the following form must be completed:

Statement of opposition to order for payment

All relevant documents must be attached (copy of the injunction order, copy of the Commissioner of Justice , etc.).

The order for payment objection form can then be submitted in one of the following ways:

  • or sent to the registry of the commercial court by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt or lodged against receipt:
Who shall I contact
  • be transmitted via the Digital Court. This allows for legal action before the Commercial Court in a completely paperless manner:

Digital court

FYI  

The opposition to the order may be drawn up on free paper.

Opposition before the court

In order to lodge an objection, the creditor must fill in a form Cerfa No. 15602 "Objection to payment":

Objection to an order for payment

The creditor must attach all relevant supporting documents (copy of the injunction order, copy of the act of the Commissioner of Justice, etc.)

The form is forwarded to the Registry of the court that issued the order for payment in one of the following ways:

  • or sent by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt
  • be lodged at the Registry

FYI  

The opposition to the order may be drawn up on free paper.

Where the debtor has opposed the order for payment, the Registrar shall convene the creditor and the debtor at the hearing of the court. The procedure becomes contradictory : the judge therefore hears the arguments of each of the parties, the debtor and the creditor. He examines the documents provided to him and asks the questions he considers useful.

The creditor must be present at the hearing or be represented by counsel. The presence of a lawyer is not mandatory except when the dispute concerns a sum greater than €10,000.

The court then issues a judgment that replaces the order for payment.

FYI  

If neither party appears at the hearing, the proceedings are closed and the order for payment lapses.

In Europe

The European order for payment (EPO) may be used to recover a claim where the dispute is cross-border : the registered office or the parties' place of business is established in a State of theEU (EU) (except Denmark).

The claim for which payment is claimed must satisfy all conditions following:

  • Debt relating to a sum of money arising from a contract (e.g. contract for the sale of goods)
  • Claim in civil and commercial matters. The European order for payment cannot therefore be used in tax, customs or administrative matters.
  • Debt certain, liquid and payable, i.e. it cannot reasonably be contested by the debtor. It must have expired and its amount must be determined.
  • Claim that is not prescribed.

FYI  

The European order for payment may be used whatever the amount of the claim.

The creditor must submit its application for a European order for payment by means of the form A :

European order for payment

The amount of the claim, any interest and costs, and any contractual penalties must be specified. All the supporting documents must be attached to the form (purchase order, invoice, correspondence between the parties...).

This Form A must be sent to the court or competent authority. In principle, this is the the place where the debtor has its registered office. Other criteria of jurisdiction may be applicable, for example the location of the business premises to which the claim relates.

The European Judicial Atlas provides a search tool to find the competent jurisdiction by State. It also indicates in what language to draw up the application (official language of the executing Member State, unless it accepts another official language of the European Union).

European Judicial Atlas

For more information on the European order for payment procedure, you can consult the page of the registry of the Commercial Court of Paris:

European order for payment

Registry of the Commercial Court of Paris

Pour en savoir plus

The European order for payment shall be made exclusively in writing. There's no audience. Representation by a lawyer is not mandatory.

On receipt of the request, the court or competent authority shall verify whether the conditions are fulfilled. It may then either accept or refuse the application or ask for additions:

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Acceptance of the application

If Form A is correctly completed and the application is considered to be well founded, the court shall issue the European order for payment by means of the form E.

The order shall be issued as soon as possible. In principle, this is a time limit of 30 days as from the date of the examination of the application.

The European order for payment is served or notified to the debtor in accordance with the rules of national law.

If the debtor does not opposition on time, it becomes enforceable.

On receipt of the European order for payment, the defendant may either pay to the claimant the amount of the claim (including interest and other costs), or oppose it within 30 days via the form F.

Rejection of the application

The court or tribunal may reject the application where the claim is prescribed or not due (i.e. immediate payment cannot be requested).

The creditor shall be informed of the reasons for the rejection and shall receive a form D.

There's no no recourse. The creditor may, however, introduce a new application European order for payment.

Correction and/or rectification of the application

If the information provided is insufficient or written in a foreign language, the court or tribunal shall refer the form B.

The application must be completed within a period determined by the court. If the deadline is exceeded, the application will be rejected.

The debtor who has received a European order for payment may either pay or file an opposition. To do this, it must use the standard form (form F) which is transmitted to him with the order for payment.

The debtor has 30 days from notification or the significance the European order for payment to file an objection.

He may also lodge an objection by letter or by any other means accepted by the Member State of origin (e.g. by electronic means).

The objection shall be examined by the court which issued the European order for payment.

FYI  

The day of service shall not count in the calculation of the time limit. If the time limit ends on a public holiday, Saturday or Sunday, the time limit ends on the expiry of the last hour of the working day next.

If there is no opposition filed within the time limit of 30 days from notification or the significance of the European order for payment, the order shall be declared enforceable.

For this, the court sends the G form to the creditor.

The European order for payment can then be enforced directly in any EU country.