Commercial Leases/Business Goodwill

When the dispute concerns the setting of the price of the renewed lease or the price of the revised lease or even the charges and works, the parties may refer the matter to the Departmental Conciliation Commission. This commission is composed of an equal number of landlords and tenants, and qualified persons who can be neither landlords nor tenants. Its mission is to reconcile the parties and issu …

Prior conciliation

When the dispute concerns the setting of the price of the renewed lease or the price of the revised lease or even the charges and works, the parties may refer the matter to the Departmental Conciliation Commission. This commission is composed of an equal number of landlords and tenants, and qualified persons who can be neither landlords nor tenants. Its mission is to reconcile the parties and issue an opinion within a period of three months, which requires the judge who would be simultaneously seized to wait for the Commission to issue its opinion.

Its referral is optional. Indeed, the text specifies that the disputes in question may be submitted to the commission. This clarification provided by Law No 2014-626 of 18 June 2014 had previously been supplied by the Court of Cassation . However, if the parties have stipulated a contractual clause that establishes a mandatory mediation procedure prior to referral to the judge, the situation leading to the inadmissibility due to the failure to implement it cannot be regularized by implementing the clause during the proceedings .

The commission is seized by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt addressed to its secretariat, which summons the parties to the session during which the case is examined by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt sent at least fifteen days before the chosen date (Art. D. 145-17 Commercial Code). The referral, which does not prevent the referral to the rent judge, does not interrupt the prescription .

The commission issues its opinion even in the absence of the duly summoned parties. An act is signed by the parties in the event of conciliation. Failing that, the opinion issued by the Commission highlights the points of disagreement and contains a reasoned proposal (Article D. 145-18 Commercial Code). The agreement reached before the departmental conciliation commission, signed by both parties, is binding and must be applied, so that the tenant cannot refuse to sign the lease .

Decree No 2023 of 29 July 2023  introduces in Articles 774-1 to 774-4 of the Code of Civil Procedure a conciliation hearing. These rules apply when the parties have not referred the matter to the commission. In this case, the judge, at the request of a party or on their own initiative, may decide, after obtaining their opinion, to summon them to a conciliation hearing. This measure, which is not a judicial administration decision, does not divest the judge of jurisdiction. The purpose of this hearing is to find an amicable solution to the dispute between the parties by confronting their viewpoints and assessing their needs, positions, and respective interests. The judge, who may review the submissions and documents exchanged, may also carry out necessary findings, evaluations, or reconstructions, and even visit the premises. They may also hear the parties separately (Art. 774-2 CPC). The exchanges during the hearing are confidential. At the end of the hearing, the parties may ask the judge to record their total or partial agreement (Art. 774-4 CPC).

Cass. 3e civ., 10 March 2010, LawLex202400000123JBJ, which holds that Article L. 145-35 of the Commercial Code does not prescribe the mandatory prior referral to the departmental conciliation commission before that of the rent judge under penalty of inadmissibility, the landlord's request for setting the price of the renewed lease is admissible.

Cass. 3e civ., 6 October 2016, LawLex202400000130JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 18 February 1998, LawLex202300000160JBJ.

Decree No 2023-686 of 29 July 2023 on measures promoting the amicable settlement of disputes before the Judicial Court, OJ 30 July 2023.

Commercial Leases/Business Goodwill

343. Prior conciliation

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343. Prior conciliation

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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