A police tribunal is a criminal jurisdiction which judges all classes of

contravention In many civil law countries (e.g.: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, Brazil) a contravention is a non-criminal offense, similar to an infraction or civil penalty in common law countries. France Contravention is, in French la ...

s committed by adults. More serious offenses (''infractions'') are judged by a ''tribunal correctionnel'', correctional tribunal, when they are '' délits'' or misdemeanors, or by a ''

cour d'assises In France, a ''cour d'assises'', or Court of Assizes or Assize Court, is a criminal trial court with original and appellate limited jurisdiction to hear cases involving defendants accused of felonies, meaning crimes as defined in French law. I ...

'' (for a ''crime'', analogous to a felony).

Composition

The police tribunal sits at the ''

tribunal d'instance In France, the ''Tribunal d'instance'' (literally "Court of First Instance") is a judicial lower court of record of first instance for general civil suits and includes a criminal division, the Police Court (''tribunal de police''), which hears case ...

'' and is composed of a '' juge d'instance'' and a '' greffier,'' or court clerk. The '' ministère public'' is represented by the ''procureur de la République'' or one of his representatives, known as ''substituts'' (substitutes) if the offense is a fifth-degree contravention.

Jurisdiction

''Jurisdiction of subject (ratione materiæ)''

The police tribunal handles ''contraventions'', except offenses punishable by a penalty of imprisonment or of fines greater than 3,000 euros, ''voire'' 4,000(? -t) euros
Article 521
of the ''code de procédure pénale'', Code of Penal Procedure). The version approved November 18, 2016 provides for a few exceptions, such as an edict of the Conseil d'État. The police tribunal is also ''competent d'attribution'', meaning it also has jurisdiction, in matters of customs, as provided by Article 356 of the ''Code des douanes'', Code of Customs, which specifies that the "tribunaux de police connaissent des contraventions douanières et de toutes les questions douanières soulevées par voie d'exception," (the police tribunals have authority ("know") in customs infractions and in all customs questions which may arise as exceptions).

Jurisdiction of place (''ratione loci'')

The police tribunal may handle infractions from any of the following relevant scopes of authority: * place of the infraction's commission or discovery * of the defendant's residence * site of an impounded subject vehicle The other ''compétence'' rules are identical to those of the ''tribunal correctionnel'', (correctional tribunal).

References

External links

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* {{in lang, fr}
Police tribunals on the site of the French Ministry of Justice
Courts in France Jurisdiction Penal system in France Criminal justice