In
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, a ''cour d'assises'', or Court of Assizes or Assize Court, is a
criminal
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
trial court
A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...
with
original and
appellate
In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
limited jurisdiction Limited jurisdiction, or special jurisdiction, is the court's jurisdiction only on certain types of cases such as bankruptcy, and family matters.
Courts of limited jurisdiction, as opposed to general jurisdiction, derive power from an issuing auth ...
to hear cases involving defendants accused of
felonies
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...
, meaning crimes as defined in
French law. It is the only French court that uses a
jury trial
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury trials are increasingly used ...
.
Justiciable matters
Under
French criminal law
French criminal law is "the set of legal rules that govern the State's response to offenses and offenders". It is one of the branches of the Legal system, juridical system of the France, French Republic. The field of criminal law is defined as ...
, the definition of a is limited to any criminal act punishable by over ten years of prison, including
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
and
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
.
Previous death penalty application
The ''cour d'assises'', uniquely outside military law, could sentence proven convicts for serious crimes, e.g.
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
(''assassinat'' or ''meurtre'') to the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
, until it was
abolished from French law in September 1981. In the sentencing phase, a qualified majority would vote on the verdict, or 2/3 of the jury, the same procedure as in rendering the guilty verdict. One of the last famous death penalty trials, that of
in 1977, famously ended in a life sentence after the jury voted 7–5 in favour of a death sentence.
Composition
Cases are tried by a
jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...
of six jurors and a panel of three active
judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
s, that is, one judge-in-charge (called "president" of the court) and two associate judges (), on first hearing, and a jury of nine jurors and a panel of three active judges on
appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
. Lists of eligible jurors are put together at random from the list of registered voters, but both the prosecution and defense have the right to
peremptory challenge
The right of peremptory challenge is a legal right in jury selection for the attorneys to reject a certain number of potential jurors or judges without stating a reason. The idea behind peremptory challenges is that if both parties have contributed ...
and can refuse a juror without stating a reason.
Special procedures exist for the following categories of crimes and suspects:
* Felonies committed by teenagers 16 years or older are tried in a special Juvenile Assize Court (''Cour d'Assises des Mineurs'')
* Felonies such as
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
or major illicit
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
, which are tried in a special assize court sitting 7 active judges on first hearing and 9 on appeal, without jurors. In such cases a simple majority is needed to convict, instead of two thirds majority in jury trial. The 2019-2022 trial against
Salah Abdeslam was one notable such case.
* More recently, since certain judicial reforms undertaken in 2018-2022, seven departments have "experimented" with ''cours criminelles'' hearing matters including of such gravity formerly requiring a trial in the cour d'assise, with seven magistrates.
Procedure
The procedure before the ''Cour d'assises'' is oral: defendants and witnesses give their testimony before the court. Defendants and their close relatives cannot be put under
oath
Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...
, since doing so could force them into
self-incrimination
In criminal law, self-incrimination is the act of making a statement that exposes oneself to an accusation of criminal liability or prosecution. Self-incrimination can occur either directly or indirectly: directly, by means of interrogation where ...
or incrimination of a relative.
As in all French criminal trials, the victim is a party with his or her own attorney, besides the public prosecution. If the accused is convicted the court will, without the jury, rule on civil damages.
At the end of the trial, the judges and jurors retire. They first decide the question of guilt by answering a series of questions—e.g., "Did ''X'' murder ''Y''?", "Did ''X''
premeditate the murder?" If a conviction results, they then rule on the appropriate penalty.
During this procedure, judges and jurors have equal positions on questions of facts, while judges decide questions of procedure. Judges and jurors have also equal positions on sentencing. Voting is secret and blank or invalid votes are counted in favor of the defendant.
Appellate Assize Court
Every ''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
'' in France has its own ''cour d'assises''. In the past, their verdicts could not be appealed to the
Court of Appeal
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
; prior to 2001, they could only be appealed to the
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...
, which would review the case on points of procedure and law alone. When reversed, which was uncommon except for the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
, the Court would refer the
''de novo'' trial to another Assize court.
One argument in favor of this practice was that allowing appeals to be made to professional judges after a verdict had been rendered by a popular jury would in essence deny
popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty is the principle that the leaders of a state and its government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associativ ...
. Since 2001, however, Assize court verdicts may be appealed on points of fact (including sentence) to another department's Assize court (chosen by the Court of Cassation) and heard before a larger jury. The case is then fully retried.
Appeals to the Court of Cassation are still possible on points of law and procedure after the first appeal (except in case of acquittal). If this appeal on law is denied, the verdict is final; otherwise, the Court of Cassation will quash () the verdict and remand the case to the appeal court for a retrial of points of fact and law.
See also
*
Conférence du barreau de Paris
*
Constitutional Council (France)
The Constitutional Council (, ) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of France, Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules are uphe ...
* in modern law ''cour d'assises'' exists only in the French judiciary and other
civil law jurisdictions, i.e.
**
Corte d'Assise Italian Cour d'assises
**
Belgian Cour d'assises
* it may also refer to obsolete courts in a number of common law jurisdictions, for example:
**
Assizes
The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...
**
Assizes (Ireland)
The courts of assizes or assizes were the higher criminal court in Ireland outside Dublin prior to 1924 (and continued in Northern Ireland until 1978). They have now been abolished in both jurisdictions.
Jurisdiction
The assizes had jurisdiction ...
* or royal writs, for example:
**
Assize of Clarendon
The Assize of Clarendon was an act of Henry II of England in 1166 that began a transformation of English law and led to Jury trial, trial by jury in common law countries worldwide, and that established assize courts.
Prior systems for deciding ...
**
Assize of Northampton
*
Judiciary of France
Status and organisation
France's independent court system enjoys special statutory protection from the executive branch. Procedures for the appointment, promotion, and removal of judges vary depending on whether it is for the ordinary ("") or t ...
* ''
Cour de cassation'', highest judicial court in France
*
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...
- general discussion mostly dealing with common law jurisdictions
*
Court of Appeal (France)
In France, a ''cour d'appel'' (; court of appeal) of the ''ordre judiciaire'' (judiciary) is a ''juridiction de droit commun du second degré'', an appellate court of general jurisdiction. It reviews the judgments of a ''tribunal judiciaire''. Whe ...
—Court of Appeal in France. Differs considerably from appeals process in
common law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
countries, in particular, certain types of court cases are appealed to courts called something other than "court of appeal"
*
Court of Appeal
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
,
Court of Appeals
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...
,
Cour d'appel—redirect to
Appellate court
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...
, the courts of second instance and appeals process in common law countries, which differs considerably from French appeal process
* ''
Ministère public'' - shares some but not all characteristics of the
prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
in common law jurisdictions. In France the
Prosecutor#France is considered a
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...
, for one thing, and investigation is typically carried out by a
juge d'instruction
In French criminal law, the investigation phase (') in a Criminal proceeding in French law, criminal proceeding is the procedure during which an investigating judge () gathers evidence on the commission of an offense and decides whether to refer ...
.
*
Police Tribunal (France)
*
Tribunal correctionnel (France)
*
Criminal responsibility in French law
*
Crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
- in common law jurisdictions, a criminal offense, an illegal act. In French law, has a much more limited meaning, closer to felony - a serious offense punishable by a penalty of more than 10 years imprisonment. A ''délit'', which roughly corresponds to a misdemeanor, is a breach of French criminal law (droit pénal) but not a ''crime'' under French law.
*
Delict
Delict (from Latin ''dēlictum'', past participle of ''dēlinquere'' ‘to be at fault, offend’) is a term in civil and mixed law jurisdictions whose exact meaning varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but is always centered on the notion of ...
- general discussion of this term in
civil law jurisdictions.
*
French criminal law
French criminal law is "the set of legal rules that govern the State's response to offenses and offenders". It is one of the branches of the Legal system, juridical system of the France, French Republic. The field of criminal law is defined as ...
, defines and codifies ''crime'', ''delict'', etc. and specifies penalties
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cour D'assises
French criminal law
Judiciary of France