The Code of Offences and Penalties (
French: ''Code des délits et des peines'') was a
criminal code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
adopted in
revolutionary France
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
by the
National Convention
The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...
on 25 October 1795 (the 3rd of Brumaire of the year IV under the
French Republican Calendar).
With 646 articles, the code deals with judicial organization, , and . It distinguishes between the functions of
administrative police, which is concerned with the prevention of crimes and offenses, and , which is concerned with the prosecution and punishment of offenses committed. This distinction is still in force today and is a functional distinction, which does not necessarily imply an organizational separation: a single organization may be charged with carrying out both types of police functions: one example is the
National Gendarmerie
The National Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie nationale, ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Minis ...
.
It is notable for suppressing afflictive penalties, with the exception of the death penalty, and for creating prison sentences, the harshest of which is known as the ''Peine de la Gêne'', and consists of a fifty-year
imprisonment
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
in a windowless cell without any possibility of communication with either outside persons or inmates.
See also
*
French criminal law
Criminal law in France is one of the branches of the juridical system of the French Republic. The field of criminal law is defined as a sector of French law, and is a combination of public and private law, insofar as it punishes private beha ...
External links
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French criminal law
Legal history of France
1795 events of the French Revolution
Criminal codes
1795 in law
{{Criminal-law-stub