Tribunal de commerce, Commercial Court in Paris, France

The Tribunal de commerce occupies the Palais Brongniart, a stone building with a light beige facade and a dark domed roof rising on the right of the roofline. Its facade has three levels: tall arched doorways at ground level, rectangular windows with balconies above, and smaller windows at the top. A projecting columned entrance carries a carved stone relief, and the building faces a paved square with a low stone balustrade. Since the palace opened in 1826 it has housed both the Bourse and the Paris commercial court.

The first consular jurisdiction was created in Lyon in 1419, followed by Toulouse in 1549 and Rouen in 1556. A 1563 edict inspired by Chancellor Michel de l'Hospital established one in Paris and allowed any requesting city to create its own. The Revolution kept these courts, renamed tribunaux de commerce by the law of 16 and 24 August 1790.

Judges are not career magistrates but traders and business leaders elected by their peers through a two-degree college of consular delegates and current or former judges. A first mandate lasts two years, followed by four-year terms, up to four consecutive mandates. Since 2003 new judges train at the École nationale de la magistrature, and continuing training became obligatory in November 2018.

The court sits in the Palais Brongniart, which has housed both the Paris stock exchange and the commercial court since it opened in 1826. Hearings are held before a panel of three elected merchant judges, and the court keeps the trade and companies register through its clerk's office.

Judges serve a two-year probationary first term, then four-year terms, up to four consecutive mandates, after which they must wait a year before standing again. New judges are trained by the École nationale de la magistrature, and since November 2018 continuing training is compulsory.