The Role of the Prosecutor in French Criminal Trials

In present-day France, the role of the prosecutor in criminal trials is principally defined by the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1958,' which became effective March 2, 1959, replacing the old Code enacted in 1808 and known as the Code d'lnstruction Criminelle. The provisions of this Code of 1958 must, however, sometimes be supplemented and interpreted by reference to certain traditional unwritten rules. Moreover, it is necessary to consider the innovations brought into the machinery of criminal justice by the development of ideas and the evolution of customs. And, of course, it is best first of all to define the precise meaning of the question we have to answer, as it appears to a Frenchman who is at the same time an academic lawyer. In the first place, what trials are to be considered criminal? Penal law in France is still dominated by the tripartite division which divides criminal offenses according to their gravity, among crimes, delits correctionnels and contraventions2 which may be rendered as very serious, moderate, and minor criminal offenses, respectively. Strictly speaking, the French aflaire criminelle refers to an offense which is a crime as defined in the Penal Code. But it is just as proper to use it more broadly to designate a criminal matter as opposed to a purely civil one. Besides, the principles governing the prosecution are to a considerable extent the same in France, whether the offense is a crime, a delit or a contravention. In the second place, what does the word mean in this context? The translation of the French cause into the English trial conveys the idea that this refers to the court proceedings, the trial proper, at the end of which an accused is found guilty and is sentenced, or is found not guilty. But in French criminal law the court proceedings may be-and must be, if the offense is a crime-preceded by a preliminary investigation, whose object is to determine whether there exist

Code (set theory) · Context (archaeology) · Criminal Code · Criminal justice · Criminal law · Criminal procedure · Criminology · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Criminal Law and Evidence · History · Law

• Prosecution and Prosecutors in Poland

  Krzysztof Krajewski•Crime and Justice•2012

  Add to list