Article 25 of Tenancy Law

Actions shall be brought before the Rental Circuit by a statement of claim consisting of an original and copies equal to the number of defendants, submitted by the plaintiff or his representative to the court registry, containing the particulars necessary for statements of claim. The plaintiff shall pay the fee in full upon submitting his statement of claim, and a lawyer’s signature thereon is not required. The registry shall fix a hearing within one week, and the plaintiff shall endorse the original statement of claim to acknowledge his knowledge thereof and of the date of the scheduled hearing. An endorsement to that effect by the person who submitted the statement on his behalf shall suffice. The registry shall give the person submitting the statement a certificate containing its submission date and a statement of the number of copies attached to it. The Registry Department shall, on the same day or the following day at the latest, send the original statement of claim and its copies to the Service Section to serve it on the defendant at least two days before the hearing, in accordance with the rules stipulated in the Civil and Commercial Procedure Law. As an exception to those rules, the following procedures may be followed for serving the tenant, except insofar as they relate to the State or a public legal person: 1 - A copy of the notice shall be delivered to the tenant at the leased premises. If he is absent, the copy shall be delivered to anyone who states that he is his agent, works with him or in his service, or resides with him. 1( The first and second paragraphs were amended pursuant to Law No. 15 of 2020. 2( The first paragraph was amended pursuant to Law No. 33 of 2003, and the third paragraph was amended pursuant to Law No. 8 of 1994. The Law 2- Service shall be effected by affixing the notice to the door of the leased premises or to a wall in a visible place at their entrance in the following cases: a - If the process server finds no person to whom a copy of the notice may validly be delivered in accordance with the preceding item. b - If any of the aforementioned persons found at the premises, other than the tenant himself, refuses to sign the original notice acknowledging receipt. c - If the leased premises are closed. In all cases, the process server must draw up a report thereof and must state, in the original notice and its copy, all the procedures he took to complete service. The Minister of Justice shall issue a decision concerning the form of the affixed notice and the particulars required to be recorded therein. Service shall be deemed productive of its effects from the time the copy is delivered to the person to whom it was legally delivered, or from the time the tenant himself refuses to receive it, or from the time it is affixed. Service in rental disputes shall be effected once. The original statement of claim shall be returned to the registry for placement in the case file before the hearing scheduled for its consideration. )1(