Commissioners of justice
Commissioners of justice are public and ministerial officers who have replaced court bailiffs and judicial auctioneers. Within the jurisdiction of the court of appeal in which their office is based, they hold, in particular, a monopoly over the service of procedural documents, the enforcement of court decisions and the conduct of court-ordered sales.
The reform introduced by the Growth and Activity Law aims to gradually rebalance the number of commissioners of justice in line with the needs of the French economy, while encouraging newly qualified professionals to establish offices and renew the range of services available, without compromising the viability of existing offices.
Change in the number of professionals
| Period | Court bailiffs |
Judicial auctioneers |
Commissioners |
| End-2015 | 3102 | 391 | |
|
Recommandations |
+202 | +42 | |
| Recommandations 2021-2023 |
+50 | 0 | |
| Recommandations 2023-2025 |
+33 | ||
| Recommandations 2026-2031 |
+41 |
Opinions on freedom of establishment and maps
In accordance with the Growth and Activity Law, as amended in particular by the Ordinance of 2 June 2016, the Autorité issues an opinion to the French Minister of Justice every five years on the freedom of establishment of commissioners of justice. The opinion is accompanied by a map identifying the areas where the establishment of new commissioner of justice offices could improve the supply and proximity of services. The proposed map is then approved by a joint decree of the French Ministers of Justice and the Economy.
Prior to the entry into force of the status of commissioner of justice, the Autorité drew up separate maps for court bailiffs and judicial auctioneers, until their merger in 2022. Since then, it has drawn up a single map for commissioners of justice.
Commissioners of justice
In Opinion 25-A-17 of 26 December 2025, the Autorité recommended to the French government the creation of additional offices to allow for the establishment of 41 new commissioners of justice during the period of validity of the next map (2026-2031).
- Scale of the establishment area: département
- Number of free establishment areas: 13
- Number of controlled establishment areas: 86
- Number of new professionals to be established: 41
For more information, please see:
In Opinion 23-A-09 of 7 July 2023, the Autorité assessed the creation of the new profession of commissioner of justice and recommended the establishment of 33 new commissioners of justice by 2025.
- Scale of the establishment area: département
- Number of free establishment areas: 13
- Number of controlled establishment areas: 86
- Number of new professionals to be established: 33
For more information, please see:
Judicial auctioneers
At the request of the French government, which asked for a new map proposal to take into account the exceptional context of the Covid-19 crisis and assess the impact on the economic activity of the profession of judicial auctioneer, the Autorité adopted Deliberation 2021/02 of 28 April 2021, attached to Opinion 19-A-17 of 2 December 2019, in which it recommended that no additional offices be created.
The Decree of 20 July 2021, issued pursuant to Article 52 of the Growth and Activity Law, validated the map proposed by the Autorité.
- Scale of the establishment area: département
- Number of controlled establishment areas: 99
- Number of free establishment areas: 0
For more information, please see:
On 2 December 2019, the Autorité adopted an opinion on the freedom of establishment of judicial auctioneers and a proposal for a revised map of establishment areas, with recommendations on the rate of creation of new judicial auctioneers’ offices (Opinion 19-A-17).
In a letter dated 22 July 2020, the French government asked the Autorité for a new map proposal to take into account the exceptional context of the Covid-19 crisis and assess the impact on the economic activity of the profession of judicial auctioneer.
As the previous map proposal, prepared in December 2019, predated the outbreak of the health crisis in France in March 2020, it did not take into account the effects of the crisis on the economic activity of judicial auctioneers.
In Opinion 16-A-26 of 20 December 2016, the Autorité identified 36 free establishment areas in which it recommended the establishment of 41 professionals in two years.
It also made a number of recommendations aimed at improving access to offices.
The Decree of 28 December 2017, issued pursuant to Article 52 of the Growth and Activity Law, validated the map proposed by the Autorité.
- Scale of the establishment area: département
- Free establishment areas: 36
- Controlled establishment areas: 63
- Number of new professionals to be established: 42
Area-by-area recommendations can be found in the table of quantified recommendations for judicial auctioneers.
The Autorité received eight applications for the creation of offices in five controlled establishment areas. In accordance with Framework Opinion 18-CP-001 of 18 June 2018, it responded unfavourably to those applications, on the grounds that the creation of additional offices in the areas concerned would be likely to undermine the continuity of operation of existing offices and to compromise the quality of the service provided.
See the opinions issued by the Autorité to the French Minister of Justice on requests for establishment of judicial auctioneers in “orange” zones, in application of the first map.
For more information, please see:
- Opinion 16-A-26 of 20 December 2016
- Press release of 20 December 2016
- Decree of 28 December 2017, issued pursuant to Article 52 of French law 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for Growth, Activity and Equal Economic Opportunities for the profession of judicial auctioneer
Court bailiffs
At the request of the French government, which asked for a new map proposal to take into account the exceptional context of the Covid-19 crisis and assess the impact on the economic activity of the profession of court bailiff, the Autorité adopted Deliberation 2021/01 of 28 April 2021, attached to Opinion 19-A-16 of 2 December 2019, in which it recommended the establishment of 50 new professionals in 22 areas of the country by 2023.
The Decree of 20 July 2021, issued pursuant to Article 52 of the Growth and Activity Law, validated the map proposed by the Autorité.
- Scale of the establishment area: département
- Number of free establishment areas: 22
- Number of controlled establishment areas: 77
- Number of new professionals to be established: 50
The number of establishments by area can be found in the table of quantified recommendations for court bailiffs.
For more information, please see:
On 2 December 2019, the Autorité adopted an opinion on the freedom of establishment of court bailiffs and a proposal for a revised map of establishment areas, with recommendations on the rate of creation of new court bailiffs’ offices (Opinion 19-A-16).
In a letter dated 22 July 2020, the French government asked the Autorité for a new map proposal to take into account the exceptional context of the Covid-19 crisis and assess the impact on the economic activity of the profession of court bailiff.
As the previous map proposal, prepared in December 2019, predated the outbreak of the health crisis in France in March 2020, it did not take into account the effects of the crisis on the economic activity of court bailiffs.
In Opinion 16-A-25 of 20 December 2016, the Autorité identified 35 free establishment areas in which it recommended the establishment of 202 professionals in two years.
It also made a number of recommendations aimed at improving access to offices.
The Decree of 28 December 2017, issued pursuant to Article 52 of the Growth and Activity Law, validated the map proposed by the Autorité.
- Scale of the establishment area: département
- Free establishment areas: 35
- Controlled establishment areas: 64
- Number of new professionals to be established: 202
Area-by-area recommendations can be found in the table of quantified recommendations for court bailiffs.
The Autorité received 29 applications for the creation of offices in controlled establishment areas. In accordance with Framework Opinion 18-AH-001 of 18 June 2018, in five opinions, concerning three areas, it considered that it was possible to respond positively to one request for the creation of an office and allow the free establishment of a new court bailiff.
See the opinions issued by the Autorité to the French Minister of Justice on requests for establishment of court bailiffs in “orange” zones, in application of the first map.
For more information, please refer to:
- Opinion 16-A-25 of 20 December 2016
- Press release of 20 December 2016
- Decree of 28 December 2017, issued pursuant to Article 52 of French law 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for Growth, Activity and Equal Economic Opportunities for the profession of court bailiff