Title III: Competence.

The jurisdiction of the courts by reason of the subject matter is determined by the rules relating to judicial organisation and by special provisions.

Jurisdiction by reason of the amount of the claim as well as the rate of jurisdiction below which the appeal is not open are determined by the rules specific to each court and by the provisions below.

Where several claims based on different and unrelated facts are made by one plaintiff against the same adversary and joined in one proceeding, the jurisdiction and rate of jurisdiction shall be determined by the nature and value of each claim considered in isolation. Where the joined claims are based on the same facts or are related, the jurisdiction and rate of jurisdiction shall be determined by the total value of…

Where claims are made, in the same proceedings and under a common instrument, by several plaintiffs or against several defendants, jurisdiction and the rate of jurisdiction shall be determined in respect of all the claims, by the highest of them.

Where jurisdiction depends on the amount of the claim, the court hears all interventions and counterclaims and claims for compensation that are lower than the rate of its jurisdiction even though, taken together with the plaintiff’s claims, they would exceed it.

Where an incidental claim exceeds the rate of its jurisdiction, the judge, if a party raises lack of jurisdiction, may either rule only on the original claim or refer the parties to litigate the whole before the court having jurisdiction to hear the incidental claim. However, where a counterclaim for damages is based exclusively on the original claim, the court shall hear the counterclaim regardless of the amount of the…

Subject to the provisions of Article 35, the judgment shall not be subject to appeal where none of the incidental claims exceeds the rate of last resort. If any of them exceeds that rate, the judge shall rule at first instance on all the claims. However, he shall rule at last instance if the only claim that exceeds the rate of last resort is a counterclaim for damages based exclusively…

A judgment deciding an indeterminate claim shall, unless otherwise provided, be subject to appeal.

Once the dispute has arisen, the parties may always agree that their dispute shall be judged by a court even if that court lacks jurisdiction by reason of the amount of the claim. They may also, subject to the same proviso and in respect of rights which are freely available to them, agree by virtue of an express agreement that their dispute shall be judged without appeal even if the…