Tribunal d'instance

In France prior to 2020, the Tribunal d'instance (literally "Court of First Instance") was a judicial lower court of record of first instance for general civil suits and included a criminal division, the Police Court (tribunal de police), which heard cases of misdemeanors or summary offences (contraventions). Since it had original jurisdiction, the Court's rulings could be appealed to a French appellate court or Supreme Court. Prior to 1958, the court was known as a Justice of the Peace Court (justice de paix) until the judicial restructuring of 1958.

In the Court, proceedings were conducted based on oral testimony and arguments, and, unlike in higher courts, legal counsel is not mandatory.

Other judicial courts of original jurisdiction were:

• Magistrate courts (juge de proximité) - for small claims and petty misdemeanors (since 1 July 2017 these claims now fall under the jurisdiction of the tribunal d'instance)
• High courts (tribunal de grande instance) - handled complex suits and had a criminal section, the Criminal Court (tribunal correctionnel), that hears cases involving lesser felonies (délits).
• Commercial court (Tribunal de commerce)
• Employment Tribunal (Conseil des prud'hommes)
• Agricultural Land Tribunal (tribunal paritaire des baux ruraux)
• Social security tribunal (tribunal des affaires de sécurité sociale). These were eliminated in 2020.