Mutual Agreement to Avoid Civil Trial

If either party wishes find an amicable solution, it may enter a conciliator of justice, one mediator or engage a participatory procedure.

The other part must agree to participate to this negotiation. If the other party does not agree to settle the dispute amicably, a trial may be initiated.

The amicable agreement may concern different areas :

• Accident
• Dispute with landlord/tenant
• Dispute with a trader
• Neighborhood disorder abnormal
• Construction problems
• Dispute between employee and employer
• Family conflicts
• Dispute between the syndicate of co-owners and the liquidator or between co-owners
• etc.

For some disputes, there are special mediators such as:

• family mediator for family disputes (parental authority, rights of access and/or accommodation, etc.)
• energy mediator for disputes with energy sector companies
• mediators for consumer disputes (travel, insurance, leisure...)
• mediators of a notarial mediation center (succession, real estate law...)

An attempt to reconciliation, of mediation or participatory procedure is obligatory front refer disputes whose applications to the courts do not exceed €5,000.

This attempt is also obligatory for the following disputes:

• Bounding
• Some easements (right of way, water line, sewer...)
• Distances of plantations or pruning (trees and hedges)
• Respect of distances for certain constructions (e.g. for the construction or installation of a fence. ;.)
• Ditching of ditches and canals used for irrigation of properties
• Neighborhood disorder abnormal

The parties are exempt from the obligation attempt at conciliation, mediation or participatory proceedings before any legal action is taken in the following cases:

• One of the parties requests theapproval of an agreement, i.e. its validation by a judge
• A legitimate motive prevents this (for example, the unavailability of the conciliator leading to the organization of the first meeting in more than 3 months)
• The judge or the administrative authority must itself make an attempt at prior conciliation. For example, the obligation to refer the matter to the Caf: titleContent before any trial
• If the creditor has engaged a simplified procedure for the recovery of small claims which did not produce any results
• One preliminary appeal obligatory is already provided for in the procedure (for example, for a dispute with social security, the medical amicable appeal board must be seized of an ex gratia appeal)

The involvement of a third party may facilitate the agreement. There are 3 choices.

The request forapproval of the agreement may be presented to the judge by request of all the parties or one of them with the express agreement of the others.

L'approval of the agreement by the judge gives it enforceability.

This allows execution amicable orenforcement in the event of difficulties with one of the parties.

When they are signed by the lawyers of the parties, agreements resulting from mediation, conciliation or a participatory procedure may be executed without going before the judge.

The registry of the court shall include the enforcement order, i.e. a statement permitting the enforcement of the agreement.

The cost depends on the intervention of the third party:

• Conciliation is free.
• Mediation may be free (mediation of consumer disputes) or paying (family or civil mediation) by payment of fees.
• The participatory procedure is paying (lawyers' fees).

In some cases and depending on your resources, you can to receive legal aid.

The amicable agreement shall be binding on the parties who signed it.

A trial may take place if one of the parties fails to comply with the signed agreement or if the dispute persists. The agreement should then be presented as proof of signed commitments.

The competent court depends on the sums involved in the dispute.

• For a case less than or equal to €10,000, it is the local court or the judicial court.
• For a case greater than €10,000No, it's the court.