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 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:
  • crimes, serious felonies, which are heard by the Assize Court
  • délits, less serious felonies and misdemeanors, which are heard by the Criminal Court
  • contraventions, minor offenses and violations, which are heard by the Police Court
For petty misdemeanors like most traffic violations, suspected offenders may either plea nolo contendere and pay a set fine amount 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

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:
At the bottom of the court hierarchy are the courts of minor jurisdiction, which may sit as police courts to hear summary offenses or as civil courts to hear minor civil cases.

Major jurisdiction

The next tier are the courts of major jurisdiction. When the court hears délits, less serious felonies and misdemeanors, it is called a Criminal Court. When the court sits to hear civil matters, it is called a Civil 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 hears disputes and suits between employers and employees ; the court is said to be paritaire 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 hears matters involving trade and business disputes and the panel is elected from the local business community.

Court of Assize

The courts of assize 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 jurors, but in some cases 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 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 to prepare and manage the case and to act as an intermediary between the barrister and the appealing party; the functions of the avoué 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. There are more than 120 judges serving in the court.
The Court of Cassation hears appeals from the assize courts and the courts of appeal. 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. The Court is referred to as the guardian of the law. It only reviews questions of law, not questions of fact. The Court's essential purpose is to ensure that the interpretation of the law is uniform throughout the country.
The Court is located in the Hall of Justice building in Paris. It was established in 1790 under the name Tribunal de cassation during the French Revolution, and its original purpose was to act as a court of error with revisionary jurisdiction over lower provincial prerogative courts. However, much about the Court continues the earlier Paris Parliament Court.

Administrative

Administrative courts of general jurisdiction

Administrative court
Appellate administrative court
Council of State

Financial courts

The financial courts - national Court of Audit and regional audit courts - have jurisdiction to try cases involving possible misuse of public funds, and, in some rare instances, of private funds.
They are empowered and mandated by Article 15 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which set forth that French citizens have the right to hold public officers, agents, and officials accountable for the finances they oversee and operate. The courts' roles and responsibilities are laid out in the Financial Court Code.

Jurisdictional court

The Jurisdictional Court, or tribunal des conflits, handles conflicts between the civil system of justice and the administrative system of justice. There are two kinds of conflicts:
  • Positive conflict: both systems consider themselves competent for the same case.
  • Negative conflict: both systems consider that the other system is competent for the case, resulting in a denial of justice.
In both cases, the tribunal des conflits will render final judgment on which system is competent.

Constitutional Council

The Constitutional Council practices judicial review of legislative acts and laws. The ordinary and administrative courts have refused to perform this type of judicial review, outside of 2 exceptions in 1851. It supervises controversies of elections and performs judicial review by determining the constitutionality of parliamentary legislation.

Jurisdiction

The Court of Audit and regional audit courts mostly adjudicate cases regarding public funds, carrying out:
  • Mandatory audits of public accountants to track national and local government funds.
  • Discretionary audits of public corporations, publicly subsidized private organizations, and social security and welfare agencies.
  • Since 1999, audits of private charities who regularly receive public donations.
Neither national or regional audit courts hear cases related to private organizations, with the few exceptions noted here. Instead, financial cases concerning private funds and money fall within the jurisdiction of the civil justice system.
Prior to 1982, France only had a single national Court of Audit. With a push toward decentralization in the creation of province-like administrative regions and the increased role of local elected officials and considering the Court's enormous docket, France saw fit to establish regional audit courts. The national court now deals primarily with the government, public establishments, and public companies on a national level, while the regional courts handle the local level. The court may occasionally delegate national-level audits to regional courts, as is often the case with post-secondary educational facilities.
An important concept in the business of the financial courts is the difference between, in French public accountings, between ordonnateurs and payeurs. The Court only judges public accountants; but it may also make observations about the decisions taken by the ordonnateurs, and possibly send them before other courts for mismanagement.