Debt Collection French Polynesia: Creditor's Legal Guide
A Sydney pearl wholesaler ships XPF 18 million of Tahitian black pearls to a distributor in Papeete. Ninety days after delivery, the invoice is unpaid. Emails stop landing. The wholesaler's lawyer in Australia has never heard of the Tribunal de Première Instance de Papeete and has no view on whether French law, Polynesian law, or something in between governs the claim. This guide answers that question and maps the procedural tools a foreign creditor can actually use on the ground.
The Constitutional Position of French Polynesia
French Polynesia (Polynésie française) is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic, classified as a collectivité d'outre-mer (COM) under Article 74 of the French Constitution. It sits roughly 15,700 kilometres from Paris, scattered across 118 islands in the South Pacific. Tahiti is the commercial and administrative hub, Papeete the capital, and the currency is the French Pacific Franc (CFP, ISO code XPF), pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of 1 EUR = 119.3317 XPF since 1999.
Constitutionally, French Polynesia has its own elected assembly (Assemblée de la Polynésie française) and a local government empowered to pass statutory instruments known as lois du pays. These local statutes cover specific competences transferred from Paris: taxation, labour law in part, commerce regulation, land tenure, and health. Everything that has not been devolved remains French national competence: civil law, commercial law, criminal law, judicial organisation, and international relations.
For a creditor, the practical upshot is simple. The contract, the invoice, and the remedies are governed by a hybrid system where French law provides the base layer and local adaptations sit on top. Judges in Papeete apply the French Civil Code and the French Commercial Code exactly as a judge in Lyon would, with narrow Polynesian overlays where a loi du pays has modified a specific rule.
Which Laws Govern a Commercial Debt in French Polynesia
The core civil framework is the French Civil Code (Code civil), extended to French Polynesia by successive application décrets since the nineteenth century and consolidated through the 2004 organic law on the status of the territory. The French Commercial Code (Code de commerce) applies in full to B2B transactions, including the 2008 LME reform on payment terms and the 2014 Hamon law updates. Articles L441-10 through L441-16, which govern payment deadlines and late-payment penalties between professionals, apply to a Tahitian distributor exactly as they apply to a Marseille one.
Limitation periods follow the French general regime. Under Article 2224 of the Code civil, personal and movable actions prescribe in five years from the day the creditor knew or should have known the facts allowing them to act. Commercial obligations between merchants fall under the same five-year rule via Article L110-4 of the Code de commerce. A supplier who discovers an unpaid invoice on day one of delivery has until the fifth anniversary of that delivery to issue proceedings.
Late-payment interest is not a matter of negotiation. Article L441-10 of the Code de commerce fixes statutory interest at the European Central Bank refinancing rate plus 10 percentage points where the contract is silent, and adds a fixed recovery indemnity of EUR 40 (converted to XPF at the fixed peg) per unpaid invoice. These penalties run automatically from the day after the agreed due date, no formal notice required.
The Courts: Papeete, Not Paris
French Polynesia has its own first-instance and appellate jurisdictions. The Tribunal de Première Instance de Papeete hears civil, commercial, and criminal matters. Commercial disputes between merchants are routed through the Tribunal mixte de commerce, a specialised commercial chamber composed of professional judges alongside elected lay judges from the business community. Appeals go to the Cour d'Appel de Papeete. Final cassation review remains with the Cour de cassation in Paris.
Procedure follows the French Code de procédure civile (CPC), applied locally through the relevant décrets. For a creditor, this means the same toolbox available anywhere in metropolitan France: payment orders, summary provisional relief, precautionary attachments, and full merits proceedings. Court documents must be drafted in French. English-language contracts and invoices are admissible but should be accompanied by a sworn French translation for procedural filings.
Procedural Tools for Creditors
Three instruments do most of the heavy lifting in B2B recovery. The injonction de payer is the French equivalent of a payment order: a fast, ex parte procedure for undisputed money claims. The référé-provision is an emergency summary order for claims where the debt is not seriously disputable. The saisie conservatoire is a precautionary attachment that freezes assets before judgment to preserve recovery.
InstrumentStatutory basisTypical timelineBest used forInjonction de payerArticles 1405-1425 CPC4 to 8 weeks to ordonnance; 1 month opposition windowUndisputed invoices, clear documentary proofRéféré-provisionArticles 872-873 CPC2 to 6 weeks to provisional orderCommercial debts not seriously contestableSaisie conservatoireArticles L511-1 et seq. Code des procédures civiles d'exécutionGranted on ex parte request, executed same dayDebtor dissipating assets or solvency doubtsAssignation au fondArticles 750 et seq. CPC6 to 18 months to first-instance judgmentDisputed claims, counterclaims, complex facts
The injonction de payer is filed with the Tribunal mixte de commerce where the debtor is a merchant. A judge issues an ordonnance portant injonction de payer on the documents alone. Once served by a huissier de justice (the French judicial officer combining the roles of process server, bailiff, and enforcement agent), the debtor has one month to lodge an opposition. If no opposition is filed, the creditor applies for the formule exécutoire and the order becomes an enforceable title identical to a judgment.
Enforcement on the Ground
Enforcement is the stage where theoretical rights meet Pacific reality. The huissier de justice in Papeete is a regulated profession governed by the same French professional rules as colleagues in Bordeaux or Lille. The instruments available include saisie-attribution (bank account attachment), saisie-vente (seizure and sale of movables), saisie des rémunérations (wage garnishment for individual debtors), and saisie immobilière (real property seizure). Bank attachments are particularly effective because the main commercial banks operating in French Polynesia, Banque de Polynésie, Banque de Tahiti, and Socredo, all hold clearable balances that a huissier can freeze within 24 hours of presenting an executory title.
One practical constraint deserves attention: French Polynesia has a small economy dominated by tourism, pearl farming, fisheries, and the public sector. Corporate debtor pools are concentrated, and the commercial community in Papeete is tight. Reputation damage from a publicly recorded judgment often produces payment faster than the actual enforcement measures. Creditors should factor this into settlement strategy rather than assuming every case needs to run all the way to the auctioneer's hammer.
Cross-Border Enforcement and Brussels I Recast
Creditors holding judgments from elsewhere in the European Union benefit from the Brussels I Recast Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012), which applies to French Polynesia as a French overseas territory under the specific territorial scope rules of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the applicable EU protocols. A German Mahnbescheid or an Italian decreto ingiuntivo, once definitive, can be enforced in Papeete without re-litigation through the streamlined abolition of exequatur. A European cross-border recovery framework therefore extends its reach across the International Date Line.
For creditors outside the EU, the position depends on bilateral arrangements and the general French regime for recognition of foreign judgments under the Cornelissen and Avianca jurisprudence of the Cour de cassation. Judgments from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom are not automatically recognised but can be declared enforceable through an exequatur procedure before the Tribunal de Première Instance de Papeete, provided the rendering court had jurisdiction under French conflict-of-laws rules, the judgment is final, and it does not offend French international public policy.
At this stage of a file, most creditors want procedural certainty rather than a lecture on private international law. Contact Cosmopolite for a free assessment. The network evaluates whether an existing foreign judgment is worth enforcing locally or whether fresh proceedings in Papeete would be faster and cheaper.
Limitation Periods and Late-Payment Penalties at a Glance
ItemRule applied in French PolynesiaStatutory sourceGeneral civil limitation5 years from knowledge of factsArt. 2224 Code civilCommercial limitation between merchants5 yearsArt. L110-4 Code de commerceStatutory late-payment interest (contract silent)ECB refinancing rate + 10 percentage pointsArt. L441-10 Code de commerceFixed recovery indemnity per invoiceEUR 40 (converted at fixed XPF peg)Art. D441-5 Code de commerceMaximum contractual payment term B2B60 days from invoice, or 45 days end of monthArt. L441-10 Code de commerceCurrencyFrench Pacific Franc (XPF), pegged 1 EUR = 119.3317 XPFMonetary convention 1998
Foreign Creditor Access: No Residency Requirement
A US exporter, a British manufacturer, or a New Zealand supplier does not need a local subsidiary, a Tahitian trading permit, or a resident director to pursue a claim in French Polynesia. French civil procedure allows any foreign natural or legal person with a legitimate interest to sue in the Papeete courts, subject to the standard rules on capacity and representation. Representation by a French avocat is mandatory above certain thresholds and for appeals, but not for every pre-litigation step.
What the foreign creditor needs is competent local counsel, usually a Tahiti-based avocat working in tandem with a huissier. The file flow typically runs: translation of key documents into French, a formal mise en demeure sent through the huissier, assessment of debtor solvency, selection of the procedural tool (injonction, référé, or fond), and enforcement. A well-run file from instruction to cash in bank takes three to nine months for undisputed claims. The same logic applies in other French-speaking jurisdictions served by the global B2B debt collection network.
How Cosmopolite Handles French Polynesia Collections
Cosmopolite routes French Polynesia files through its French-language recovery network, working with licensed avocats and huissiers based in Papeete. The model is straightforward: one point of contact for the foreign creditor, local instruction in French, and real-time reporting back in English or the creditor's working language. Fees are transparent and largely success-based for commercial B2B files, with advance costs quoted before any procedural step that triggers court fees or huissier disbursements.
The team assesses each file on three criteria before recommending a path: enforceability (does the debtor have attachable assets), urgency (is there dissipation risk that warrants a saisie conservatoire), and proportionality (does the claim value justify a full contentieux or would a référé-provision deliver faster cash). For creditors already managing multi-country receivables, French Polynesia fits inside a single consolidated workflow rather than sitting as a Pacific outlier.
Contact Cosmopolite for a free assessment of your case. Provide the contract, the invoice, the last exchanges with the debtor, and any dunning history, and you will receive a jurisdictional strategy note within five business days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does debt collection work in French Polynesia?
Debt collection in French Polynesia follows French civil procedure with local court structures. A creditor typically sends a formal mise en demeure through a huissier de justice, then files an injonction de payer or a référé-provision at the Tribunal mixte de commerce de Papeete. Once an executory title is obtained, enforcement proceeds via bank attachment, seizure of movables, or real-property seizure executed by the local huissier.
Does French commercial law apply in French Polynesia?
Yes. The French Code de commerce applies in full to B2B transactions in French Polynesia, including Articles L441-10 through L441-16 on payment terms and late-payment penalties. Local statutes (lois du pays) may modify narrow points in areas devolved to the Polynesian assembly, but the core commercial framework is identical to metropolitan France, and the same statutory interest and recovery indemnity rules apply.
Can Cosmopolite collect debts in French Polynesia?
Yes. Cosmopolite handles French Polynesia files through its French-language network, working directly with licensed avocats and huissiers de justice based in Papeete. Foreign creditors from the US, UK, EU, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere can instruct Cosmopolite without needing a local entity. The team manages translations, procedural filings, enforcement, and reporting in the creditor's working language.
