Judiciary of France

The judiciary of France is the court system, administrated by the Minister of Justice, of France. It is separated into the ordinary courts, which litigate criminal and civil cases, and the administrative courts, which supervise the government and handle complaints thereof. There are three tiers to each court: the inferior court, the intermediate appellate court and the court of last resort. The intermediate appellate court hears cases on appeal from the inferior court, and the court of last resort hears appeals from the intermediate appellate courts. Judges are appointed by the High Council of the Judiciary and serve for life unless removed, with due process, by the Council.

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 the administrative stream. Judicial appointments in the judicial stream must be approved by a special panel, the High Council of the Judiciary. Once appointed, career judges serve for life and cannot be removed without specific disciplinary proceedings conducted before the council with due process.

The Ministry of Justice handles the administration of courts and the judiciary, including paying salaries or constructing new courthouses. The Ministry also funds and administers the prison system. Lastly, it receives and processes applications for presidential pardons and proposes legislation dealing with matters of civil or criminal justice. The Minister of Justice is also the head of public prosecution, though this is controversial since it is seen to represent a conflict of interest in cases such as political corruption against politicians.

At the basic level, the courts can be seen as organized into:

ordinary courts ('), which handle criminal and civil litigation, and
administrative courts ('), which supervise the government and handle complaints

The structure of the French judiciary is divided into three tiers:

Inferior courts of original and general jurisdiction
Intermediate appellate courts which hear cases on appeal from lower courts
Courts of last resort which hear appeals from lower appellate courts on the interpretation of law.

There are exceptions to this scheme, as noted below.

Law

Procedural

While in Germanic Europe the supreme courts can and do tend to write more verbose opinions supported by legal reasoning, the typical Francophone court of cassation decision is short, concise and devoid of explanation or justification. There is no stare decisis, or principle of precedent, binding lower courts to respect superior courts' rulings (case law) on questions of law; but a line of similar case decisions, while not precedent per se, forms the jurisprudence constante.

Criminal

Public offenses are categorized as:

', serious felonies, which are heard by the Assize Court (')
', less serious felonies and misdemeanors, which are heard by the Criminal Court (', also called the Correctional Court)
', minor offenses and violations, which are heard by the Police Court (', also called the Police Tribunal)

For petty misdemeanors like most traffic violations, suspected offenders may either plea nolo contendere and pay a set fine amount (amende forfaitaire) or contest the charge in court. The court may then find the defendant innocent or guilty, but if found guilty, they are liable to be sentenced to pay a higher fine.

Organization of the courts

thumb|500px|French court organization

Under the system of jurisdictional dualism in France, courts are organized into two main divisions ():

ordinary courts (), which handle criminal and civil litigation
administrative courts (), which supervise the government and handle complaints

Ordinary

The ordinary courts, also called judiciary courts, have jurisdiction over two branches of law:

French civil law (), which involves settling civil cases between private individuals (also known as private law; )), and
French criminal law ().

Minor jurisdiction

At the bottom of the court hierarchy are the courts of minor jurisdiction, which may sit as police courts (') to hear summary offenses (such as traffic violations, limited assault, breach of peace) or as civil courts (') to hear minor civil cases.

Major jurisdiction

The next tier are the courts of major jurisdiction. When the court hears ', less serious felonies and misdemeanors, it is called a Criminal Court (', also called a Correctional Court). When the court sits to hear civil matters, it is called a Civil Court (', also called a Grand Instance Court). It has original jurisdiction over civil cases involving more than €10,000 in legal damages. Litigants are legally required to be represented by an attorney. The court also sits as a Juvenile Court (').

These courts usually sit in panels of three judges, but some minor offenses such as traffic violations, lite drug trafficking, and misuse of credit cards and checking accounts may be heard by a single judge.

Specialized jurisdiction

The Labour Court (France) (conseil de prud'hommes) hears disputes and suits between employers and employees (apart from cases devoted to administrative courts); the court is said to be ' because it is composed of equal numbers of representatives from employer unions, e.g., MEDEF and CGPME, and employee unions. The Agricultural Land Tribunal (') hears cases dealing with long-term leases for farm land estates. The Social security tribunal (') hears suits over welfare and state benefits. The Business Court (tribunal de commerce) hears matters involving trade and business disputes and the panel is elected from the local business community.

Court of Assize

The courts of assize (', also called a Court of Sessions) are located in each department of France with original and appeals jurisdiction over felony offenses. When acting as a trial court, it normally rules in panels of three judges and six (formerly nine) jurors, but in some cases (involving e.g. terrorism or illegal drug trade) the court may sit in panels of five judges without grand jury. When acting as appellate court, it rules in either panels of three judges and nine (formerly twelve) jurors or seven judges without grand jury.

Court of Appeal

The courts of appeal (') are limited to appellate jurisdiction and hear the bulk of appeals. They sit in panels of three judges. Appeals courts are usually organized into social security, business, civil and criminal divisions. Formerly, it required the intervention of a solicitor or case attorney (avoué) to prepare and manage the case and to act as an intermediary between the barrister and the appealing party; the functions of the were abolished in 2012.

Court of Cassation

The Court of Cassation (') is the highest level of appeal in France. These courts sit in six chambers with fifteen judges in each; however, only seven judges need to be present to hear a case. Criminal cases are heard in only one of the court's five chambers and the court has no legal authority to deny a criminal appeal.

General references

Serge Guinchard, André Varinard and Thierry Debard, Institutions juridictionnelles (Judicials institutions), Paris, Dalloz editor, 12th edition, 2013.
Serge Guinchard and Jacques Buisson, Criminal procedural law, Paris, Lexisnexis editor, 9th edition, 2013.
Serge Guinchard, Cécile Chainais and Frédérique Ferrand, Civil procedure, Paris, Dalloz editor, 31st edition, 2012 .
Serge Guinchard and alii, Procedural law, Paris, Dalloz editor, 7th edition, January 2013.

Primary sources

Code de procédure civile
Code de procédure pénale
Documentation française
Code de justice administrative
Code des juridictions financières
La Cour des Comptes (booklet published by the Cour)