Terminology
In France, ''the ministère public'' (in the person of an Attorney-general, a ''procureur de la République'' or one of his ''substituts'' or representatives) is designated as "le parquet" in legal jargon. The word ''parquet'' itself may have stemmed from the Old French, where it meant a "small park or enclosure". The term "''parquet''" goes back to the medieval expression "''parquet des Gens du Roi''". The origin of this use and meaning of the word is not known with certainty, but the most probable hypothesis is that these magistrates were separated from the magistrates ''du siège'' in a sort of "park". The location of the ''ministère public'' has been called the "''parquet''" because in the Great Chamber (la Grand-Chambre) of Paris the enclosure delimited on three sides by the seats of judges and on the fourth by a barre or handrail, this heart of the room, a closed and dedicated space,(sacré), a small parc or parquet, that the people of the king (les gens du roi) crossed to take their places and where the '' gens d'armes'', gendarmes, came forward to relate the findings of their investigations, to erect (en dresser) the '' procès-verbal''. The name "standing magistracy" ("''magistrature debout''"), comes from the fact that ''ministère public'' magistrates formerly stood to speak, notably when ''prenant les réquisitions'', asking for a sentence, unlike the ''magistrats du siège'', magistrates of the seat, who remained seated for the entire hearing.History
The ''ministère public'' first appears as a concept at the end of the 18th century, when the kings of France caused their interests to be defended by procureurs, or prosecutors, who little by little put themselves exclusively at the service of the kings. The ''parquet'' modeled itself little by little with ''procureurs'', prosecutors, ''avocats'', lawyers and ''substituts'', designations which remain in contemporary French justice. Prior to the French Revolution, the ''ministère public'' was embodied by officers called the Gens du roi (King's men), so that the Attorney-General of the king was the key role of theIn the judiciary
Principles of organisation
Hierarchy
Indivisibility of the ''parquet''
One of the specifics of the parquet is that it is indivisible: each member represents the whole and the members are thus interchangeables. Any action by a member commits the entire ''parquet''. In a trial, the magistrates of the parquet may mutually replace one another without stopping the proceedings, which is forbidden to the magistrates ''du siège'' results in their case of nullity of the judgment.Non-responsibility of the ''parquet''
Another specific is the non-responsibility of the ''parquet''; a magistrate of the ''parquet'' is responsible only for his own mistakes but cannot be assigned court costs as another plaintiff might after losing a trial. He cannot be prosecuted for either injury or defamation caused by what he says in a hearing. Personal faults tied to public service can on the other hand be prosecuted by virtue of the State's power of recourse, but only in front of the civil chamber of the Cour de cassation.Organisation and personnel
The magistrates who compose it are the same as those of the ''siège'' (chair). Generally a magistrate, in the course of his career, will carry out the functions of the chair as well as of the ''parquet''. ; Notes for the table Its composition varies with the jurisdiction: * in police tribunals, the ''ministère public'' is represented by a ''substitut'' in the ''tribunal de grande instance'' for fifth-class contraventions and a commissaire de police, police commissioner, of the place where the tribunal is located, an officer of the ''ministère public'', for the first through fourth classes of offense, and, on an exceptional basis, by the mayor of the municipality; * In correctional tribunals, a prosecutor of the republic assisted by an assistant prosecutor and the substitutes of the prosecutor according to the importance of the tribunal; * InMinistère public's role
The role of the ''ministère public'', which is to defend the interests of society, the public order and the application of the law, is exercised in three areas: an ''action publique'' before a penal jurisdiction, an ''intervention'' before a civil jurisdiction, and the ''attributions administratives''.Exercise of public action in penal matters
He represents the interests of society and to do so he exercises an ''action publique'' (in other words prosecution as the plaintiff, intervening in the trial as a principal party). He can act both in the ''instruction'' and the judgment phases. The services of the police judiciaire (PJ), or judicial police, are at the disposal of the ''ministère public'' for seeking out infractions, which allows him to decide whether or not to set off the ''action publique''.In the administrative order
Before financial juridisctions
Before administrative jurisdictions
In common law administrative jurisdictions (i.e. as opposed to specialised administrative jurisdictions), ''commissaires du gouvernement'' (government commissioners) existed, and were loosely related to the judiciary's ''ministère public'', albeit their functions were closer to giving a general opinion on legal matters pertaining a case rather than actively defending the interests of society of the government, despite their name. Their transformation into ''rapporteurs publics'' in 2009 confirmed that they were not of the same nature as the ''ministère public''. Furthermore, ''Rapporteurs public'' has been confirmed to be fully independent and impartial in their functions.Before the tribunal des conflits
Article 6 of the law of February 4, 1850 bearing on the organisation of the ''tribunal des conflits'' provides that the functions of the ''ministère public'' will be filled by two commissioners of the government chosen every year by the President of the Republic, one from among the ''Non-independence of the ''parquet'' and condemnation of France
The ''parquet'' is not considered an independent judicial authority in the meaning of article 5 of the ''Convention de Sauvegarde des Droits de l’Homme et des Libertés Fondamentales''. The European court for the rights of man condemned France in November 2010 for having conferred on it jurisdictional functions. In 2013 the law was again modified, eliminating the oral instructions transmitted par the ''Chancellerie'' to prosecutors. At the same time the European Court of Human Rights confirmed in a new verdict on June 27, 2013, ''Vassis et al vs France'', that the French ''parquet'' cannot be considered a judicial authority in the sense of article 5§3 of the Convention.See also
* * * Opportunité des poursuites * Procureur général *Notes and references
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