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The conciliation procedure is defined by the Judicial Code, articles 731 to 734 included.
This is a voluntary process between the parties, who ask a neutral third party to help them solve their dispute within a confidential framework.
The conciliator will listen to each party and propose a solution that the parties are free to accept or not. The conciliator does not rule over a dispute as a judge would.
Conciliation can take place within the framework of a court action or not. In the first case, it can be led by the judge as long as it is part of his remit (for instance: a lease problem can be brought to a justice of the peace while a trade dispute dealing with a sum superior to 2,500 euro must be brought to a tribunal of first instance)
The solution found is then written down.
The failure of a conciliation procedure does not preclude the parties from resorting to arbitration or a court action.
There are no standard documents for conciliation (for instance general standard clauses granting a competence to a body practicing conciliation). Depending on your problem, you will directly check the website of the competent body or authorities
