Attempting to reach an amicable settlement becomes mandatory for some disputes

Obligation to make a prior amicable request

The decree of 11 may 2023 reinstates, for certain disputes, the obligation to make a prior amicable request.

This approach must be tried on pain of the inadmissibility of the application for judicial review : for small disputes, the judge cannot be seized immediately, an attempt at amicable resolution is mandatory and must be justified. If the process is not companies, the application will be deemed inadmissible by the judge.

The prior amicable approach may be, at the choice of the parties:

• an attempt at conciliation by a conciliator of justice;
• an attempt to mediate;
• an attempt at a participatory procedure.

These alternatives should allow for a more rapid resolution since the intervention of a judge is not required.

An obligation specific to certain disputes

The obligation of prior amicable action is required in the following cases:

• applications for payment of an amount not exceeding € 5 000 ;
• requests related to abnormal neighborhood disorders;
• applications relating to bounding, clearing of ditches and canals, planting distances or pruning of trees.

The decree specifies the situations in which the obligation of an amicable procedure is not required, for example: cases of obvious urgency, circumstances making this attempt impossible, or when a prior appeal is imposed on the author of the decision.

Moreover, the obligation is not required in the event of the unavailability of the conciliators of justice and if the first conciliation meeting takes place in a period longer than three months from the referral to a conciliator.