Bailiff (now called Commissioner of Justice)
Verified 01 July 2022 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice
Do you need a bailiff? Be careful, you must now call on a Commissioner of Justice. Indeed, since the 1ster july 2022, bailiffs and judicial auctioneers become commissioners of justice.
As of July 1, 2022, a new profession of Commissioner of Justice is created.
It replaces the merged former professions of bailiff and judicial auctioneer.
The Commissioners of Justice are public and ministerial officials.
They shall perform the duties previously performed by the bailiff and the judicial auctioneer.
The new profession is led by the National Chamber of Commissioners of Justice.
The main tasks of the Commissioner of Justice are:
- Enforce court decisions and actions or enforceable title
- Make inventories, fix prices and sell furniture for sale by public auction under the law or by court order
- Make the significance or the notification judicial or non-judicial acts
- Taking precautionary measures after the opening of an estate
- Providing court and tribunal hearings
- To issue and enforce the recovery document provided for in the event of non-payment of a check
- Implement the simplified procedure for recovering small amounts debts
- Establish the state of play findings
- Assist the Chief Registrar in his task of auditing supervisory accounts
The Commissioner of Justice may also perform the following missions :
- Proceed to the amicable or judicial recovery of all claims
- Make authoritative material findings at the request of the court or private individuals, except in criminal matters
- Serve as liquidator in bankruptcy proceedings or as assistant to the judge in professional recovery proceedings
- Fulfill receivership duties (temporary guardian of a thing)
- Assist the judge in forming an opinion on a question of fact
Please note
the commissioner of justice may engage in other activities as an incidental activity, but he is not entitled to engage in trade. For example, he may be a real estate administrator, insurance agent, court mediator or treaty person (under certain conditions).
You can find the contact details of a justice commissioner near your home on the website of the National Chamber of Justice Commissioners:
Who shall I contact
Who can help me?
Find who can answer your questions in your region
Telephone administrative information - Allo Public Service
For more information on this topic, you can contact Allô Service Public.
Cost: free service
The informants who answer you belong to the Ministry of the Interior.
Attention: the service does not have access to users' personal files and cannot therefore provide information on their status.
The service is available at the following times:
- Monday: 8.30am to 5.30pm
- Tuesday: 8:30 to 12:15
- Wednesday: 8:30 to 12:15
- Thursday: 8.30am to 5.30pm
- Friday: 1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m
- Code of Civil Procedure: Articles 704 to 718Verification and recovery of costs
- Code of Civil Procedure: Articles 1307 to 1315Affixing seals
- Code of Civil Enforcement Procedures: Articles L122-1 to L122-3Enforced execution, typing
- Order No. 2016-728 of 2 June 2016 on the status of Commissioner of Justice
- Decree No. 2021-1625 of 10 December 2021 on the competences of the Commissioners of Justice
- Ask the bailiff for the detailed account of the sums he asks you for
Document template
FAQ
- What if you are visited by a bailiff?National Institute of Consumer Affairs (INC)