In France, the criminal trial involves two parties
The criminal procedure is the set of rules that organize the process of repression of an offenceIt makes the link between the offence and the penalty, through intermediate phases, and necessary bearing on the finding of the offences, gathering evidence, prosecution of the perpetrators, and their judgment by the competent court. The criminal procedure has the purpose of implementation of the general criminal law, that is to say, the research of the authors of the violation and judgment.
On the one hand, the public ministry (public prosecutor, attorney-general), embodying the defense of the company, on the other hand, the accused (in case of an offence or contravention of), or the accused (in cases of crime).
Legally speaking, the victim is not a party to the criminal trial. It may, however, seek redress of his injury in the context of a civil trial, it may constitute civil party.
This civil trial may be held in the same time as the criminal trial.
The purpose of a criminal trial is to determine:°) if the person returned to the trial court is guilty of the facts alleged against him.
It must then be established that the person has committed acts constituting an offence.
°) the sentence to which she is convicted (if the person is guilty).
The criminal trial is preceded according to the case of an investigation (usually conducted by the police services or the gendarmerie), a judicial inquiry (inquiry conducted by a judge of instruction).
The criminal procedure will, in particular, determine the ways that investigators can use it, and under what conditions. The more the offence carries a sentence stronger and more investigators will be able to use means which are contrary to individual liberty: detention, search, telephone tapping, infiltration.
The criminal procedure lays down the rules of form and substance that need to be met, both for the search, the finding and prosecution of offences, that, in matters of evidence and during the trial the accused person.
It also provides for the remedies against the decisions of criminal courts. Located in the heart of the guarantees of democracy, the criminal procedure is one of the founding elements of the rule of law.
The year saw the introduction of the first penal Code
It is she who gives body to the safeguards of the individual against institutions in charge of the fight against crime. It is one of the areas where the european Court of human rights has proved to be particularly vigilant and do not hesitate to condemn an offending State. Until the Thirteenth century, the king considers himself the business and then he delegates his power to the judges specially appointed. The treaty of Cesare Beccaria's has also influenced the criminal proceedings. After the French Revolution and the Declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen, a single court system was created in. It distinguishes between civil and criminal cases and has only two degrees of jurisdiction.
The criminal courts are organized around the three levels of violations: infractions, misdemeanors and felonies.
In, the criminal procedure Code divides the trial into two phases: preparation, dedicated to the investigating judge and the trial itself. It has laid the foundation by insisting on the unity of the civil and criminal justice. The separation of functions of prosecution, investigation and trial allows that there is a new look at the sanction. In, a new criminal Code was put in place by Napoleon Bonaparte. Under the Monarchy of July, the times is liberal and there is a tendency towards the principle of non-detention. In the Third Republic, the law of Constans, the eight of December, and is the first law, which is to return the lawyer in the system of instruction. During the Occupation, the courts of the exceptions are established. The number of jurors of the Court of Assizes reduced from twelve to. At the Liberation, the rule of law is restored, the superior Council of the magistracy is established in and the preamble to the Constitution of the twenty-seven October includes the Declaration of. The concern is also to repress war crimes.
In, the criminal procedure Code replaces the code of criminal procedure.
In, Michel Debré, minister of Justice puts in place a series of reforms: establishment of the judge of enforcement of sentences, recasting the status of judges, legalization of custody, establishment of the national Centre of judicial studies (which became the national School for the judiciary in) In, the law of security and freedom extends the prerogatives of the police and prosecutors. After the election François Mitterrand, this act is repealed and the death penalty is removed. The law of the neu fseptembre relating to the fight against terrorism created a single court for cases of terrorism, and provides for specific provisions. This special regime will be strengthened in, and again in. In the law on the reform of the code of criminal procedure by replacing the term"indictmentindictment", and withdrew to the investigating judge the power to put in detention. It also introduces the presence of the lawyer during the police custody. A part of these provisions are withdrawn a few months later. The act of fifteen June on the presumption of innocence, establishes the call for the verdict of the assize courts, strengthens the rights of the victim and the presumption of innocence, creates the Judge of liberties and detention In, the Law Perben I created the local court and then in, the Law Perben II introduced the"Plead guilty". Collegiality the training had been provided for in the laws of the ten December, of the thirty December, and of the four January all three repealed before coming into force. After the Outreau case, the act of the fifth of march, providing the obligation for the judges to work collegially, should apply to the January. Its entry into force, initially planned on the st of January has been postponed several times due to the proposed removal of the investigating judge, and then by a lack of resources to implement this reform, before being repealed in. In march, Michèle Alliot-Marie is preparing a significant change in the criminal procedure. It establishes the' criminal investigation criminal"(replacing the survey the preliminary period and the statement), the"judge of investigation and liberties"(replacing the instruction judge and the judge of freedoms and detention), and renames the House to the statement"the chamber of the investigation and freedoms", the non-place and the classification in the"classification of law". The reform is postponed a few months later. The act of the fourteenth of April, came to deeply reform the system of police custody in the French law, establishing as a leading measure for the compulsory presence of a lawyer right from the beginning of the measurement. In, the law on the individualisation of penalties and strengthening the effectiveness of criminal sanctions in particular enables the creation of the Mate criminal. The removal of judges of proximity, first planned for January, is finally applied to the July.
The sources of the criminal proceedings shall be by principle of legal sources.
The criminal procedure is the jurisdiction of the act pursuant to section thirty-four of the present Constitution. This means that it is subject to the principle of legality. This legislative jurisdiction exclusive, is designed as a guarantee in anticipation of these measures repressive. In this area, the essential source is the european Convention on human rights (ECHR), which sets out a number of fundamental rights and freedoms, some of which are directly relevant to the criminal proceedings, including through the section six on the requirement of a fair trial. Before each trial, even if he is a murderer ended up with his victim and the blood on his hands, the suspect is said to be innocent as long as it has not been considered. The presumption of innocence is set out in the preliminary article of the code of criminal procedure. It moreover follows from article eleven of the DRMC of. Thus, it has a constitutional value. The civil action means the action that the injured party brought before the criminal courts. It covers two legal acts are different: If the victim wants to bring a civil action, it should check if the public Prosecutor of the Republic has set or not to implement the action public. Notions that victims can be both physical persons as persons moral type group or professional associations. There are conditions for the admissibility of the constitution as a civil party: it is necessary to have been injured by the violation, the harm suffered must be direct and current, and also staff (the heirs and the spouse of the victim may, however, act). The victim must also prove his loss Once these conditions are met, it is necessary to verify if the Prosecutor of the Republic initiated the public action. The victim will then have the choice between two paths: The transaction: the victim can deal with the perpetrator of the offence on the repair of the damage. The civil action shall be extinguished as soon as the transaction is occurred but the public action remains an option. Waiver: the victim waives the right to claim repair, civil action is turned off but not public action. The withdrawal of action: public action has been triggered, the party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings is not a party to the criminal proceedings and can no longer and seek damages before the criminal courts. Acquiescence: the victim waived redress.
The judgment had dismissed his claim for damages and it leaves to drain the appeal period. The civil action is turned off Res judicata: the victim has obtained a final judgment, it will no longer be able to act before another court.
The tribunal de grande instance, also, is in the first instance it hears cases that are not specifically assigned to another court.
The criminal divisions of the court of first instance shall take the name of tribunal correctionnel.
The jurisdiction of the various criminal courts is determined as a function of the nature of the offence.
Thus: When several offences are committed and are located in different jurisdictions, it is the court competent to try the offence, the more serious judge.
The hearings in criminal law is generally the same in front of all criminal courts. France operates on a system of procedure of the inquisition, it is the judge who leads the proceedings. It is, therefore, to him who questions the accused and any witnesses. After conducting this questioning, the judge asks if the prosecutor of the Republic, the civil party or the lawyer of the accused had any questions to ask. When the debate is ended, the floor is given to the civil party or his counsel to explain his requests. Then comes the turn of the Prosecutor who presents his indictment, that is to say, the penalty that it demands. It is then the lawyer of the defendant who pleads and finally the floor is given to the accused himself. The judge will then render its decision, either immediately or at the end of the hearing or at another date (it is said that it is his decision).
