Si la juridiction judiciaire est

Application pratique:

Although a commercial lease exists, the Cour de cassation (decision no. 22-24.222 of 14 March 2024) holds that damage caused by public works falls solely within the jurisdiction of the administrative court (tribunal administratif). Sophie should therefore not rely on the lease alone: she should keep evidence such as accounts, photographs and dated correspondence, and send a formal claim for compensation to the commune. If that is refused, she should bring her case before the tribunal administratif de Lyon within the applicable time limits. A lawyer can check beforehand whether any part of her claim, such as a pure lease breach, could still go to the civil court.

Application pratique:

The judge must look beyond the legal basis the tenant has chosen, such as the lease or the landlord's obligations, and ask whether the damage actually results from public works. If it does, only the administrative court can rule, even though the parties are bound by a commercial lease. The tenant should seek advice quickly and, if necessary, bring the case before the tribunal administratif de Nantes, to avoid losing time and money on a wrongly filed claim. The tenant should also keep proof of the works' timing, their effect on access and customers, and the figures showing the loss.

Application pratique:

Following decision no. 22-24.222, claims for damage caused by public works are generally heard by the administrative court, even where the victims are commercial tenants of the public body. The manager should therefore keep a full record of the works (schedules, access arrangements, notices to tenants) and handle complaints through a documented compensation procedure. If the tenants issue proceedings before a civil court, the body should raise the jurisdiction objection at the outset, before arguing the merits. Some claims, such as a rent dispute unrelated to the works, may still belong to the civil court, so each claim should be examined separately.