When a proceeding under Articles 1871 through 1883 involves the determination of an issue of fact, such issue may be tried and determined in the same manner as issues of fact are tried and determined in other civil actions in the court in which the proceeding is pending.
Art. 1879.Trial and Determination of Issue of Fact
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title VI. Judgments · Chapter 2. Declaratory Judgments · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1879 provides that any issue of fact arising in a declaratory judgment proceeding gets tried and determined the same way issues of fact are tried in any other civil action pending in that court.
Full Text of Art. 1879
Plain-English Summary
Declaratory judgment proceedings are not limited to pure questions of law. A party might ask a court to declare its rights under a contract while the parties still disagree about what happened, or what a document said, or whether some condition was met. Article 1879 answers how those factual disputes get resolved: the same way fact issues are tried and determined in any other civil action in that court.
That means a declaratory proceeding does not strip away the ordinary tools for resolving disputed facts. Whatever combination of judge and jury trial would normally apply to that kind of case in that court still applies, along with the normal rules for presenting evidence and testing it. Seeking a declaration rather than damages does not change how the facts underneath the legal question get decided.
Article 1879 keeps the declaratory judgment chapter consistent with the rest of Louisiana civil procedure: the remedy is distinct, but the fact-finding process behind it is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a jury decide facts in a Louisiana declaratory judgment case?
Yes, if a jury trial would ordinarily be available for that kind of issue in that court, since Article 1879 applies the same trial procedures used in other civil actions.
Does a declaratory judgment proceeding use different evidence rules than a normal lawsuit?
No. Article 1879 provides that fact issues in a declaratory proceeding are tried the same way as in any other civil action in that court.
What kinds of facts might need to be tried in a declaratory judgment case?
Any factual dispute relevant to the rights, status, or legal relations at issue, such as what a document said, what the parties did, or whether a condition was satisfied.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: jury trial in a Louisiana declaratory judgment caseArticle 1879 Louisiana Code of Civil Procedurefact issues in declaratory judgment proceeding Louisiana