Commercial disputes, including shareholder disputes, can be resolved through mediation, arbitration or recourse to the court system. The French civil court system includes commercial courts comprised of non-professional judges but with a business background. Certain types of litigation may however be directed to the ordinary civil courts (for example, in regard to intellectual property) The second-tier of the court system are the courts of appeal staffed by professional judges; there is a move towards giving certain courts of appeal sole jurisdiction on certain issues (for example the sudden termination of ongoing commercial relations).
The final tier of the civil system is the Cour de Cassation which only hears appeals on points of law.