Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/547

LAW.] FRANCE 511 central power and the commune ; and often it is a dif ficult matter to avoid a conflict of duties. He is besides officier de I ctat civil, or official registrar of births, marriages, and deaths. The mayor and deputy-mayor are not salaried officials. In the large towns they are nominated by Government, but they must always be chosen out of the municipal council, which is elected on the principle of universal suffrage, and has with regard to the commune much the same power and duties as the general council with regard to the department. Every canton must have a commissary of police, who is under the direct control of the mayor. This police-officer is appointed by the prefect in towns baring not more than 6000 inhabitants, and by the president of the republic in the others. He has rather complex duties, being at the same time a governmental, judicial, and municipal agent. Paris and Lyons have in souic respects a special and ex ceptional administration, the consideration of which belongs to the articles devoted to these cities. IV. Law and Administration of Justice. Judicial proceedings may be classed under civil, com mercial, and criminal jurisdictions ; there are besides some special departments, such as military and maritime tribunals, councils of discipline, and the cour des comptes. de In civil matters, every canton has a ju<je de paix, whose decision is final when the amount in dispute does not exceed 100 francs (=4); up to 200 francs, he only can give a sentence subject to appeal. His principal business is, however, one of conciliation; and no suit can be brought before the tribunal of first instance till he has endeavoured without success to bring the parties to agreement. iry A tribunal of first instance, or primary court, is esta blished in every arrondissement. Its decision may be appealed against for sums above 1500 francs. The cours d appel decide the actions when the sentence of the first court has been appealed from. They are 26 in number, established in the following towns : Cours d Appel. Departments depending on them. PARIS Seine, Aubc, Eure-et-Loir, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-et-Oisc, Tonne. AGES Gers, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne. Aix ttasses-Alpes. Alpcs-Maritimcs, Bouchcs-du-Khune, Var. AMIK-.S Aisne, Oise, Somme. AXGKKS Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe. BASTIA Corse. BESAXCOX Doubs, Jura, Ilautc-Saone, Belfort. BORDEAUX Charcnte, Dordogne, Gironde. BOURGES Cher, Indre, Nievre. CAEX Calvados. Manche, Ornc. CHAMBERY Savoie, Ilaute-Savoie. Duos Cote-cl Or, Ilautc-Marnc, Saone-et-Loire DOUAI Xord. Pas-de-Calais. GREXOBLE Hautes-Alpes, Drome, Isere. LIMOGES Conezc, Creuse, Ilaute-Viennc. LTOXS.... Ain, Loire, Rhone. MoxTPELLiER...Audc, Avcyron, Hdrault, Pyrdndes-Orientnles. NAXCT Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Vosges, Ardennes. N!MES Ardfcche, Gard, Lozere, Vaucluse. ORLEANS Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret. PAD Landes, Basses-Pyrdndes, Hautes-Pyrdndes. POITIERS Charente-Inferieure, Dcux-Sevres, Vendde, Vienne. RMNES Cotes -du-Nord, Finistere, Ille-et- Vilaine, Loire-Infdrieure, Morbihan. RIOM Allier, Cantal, Hautc-Loire, Puy-de-Dome. ROL-EX Eure, Seine-Infdrieure. TOULOUSE Aridge, Haute-Garonne, Tarn, Tarn-ct-Garonne. ill ul Tribunals of commerce to decide clisputsd points arising put of business transactions are instituted in all the more important commercial towns, and consist of judges chosen from among the leading merchants, and elected by their fellows. For sums above 1500 francs there can be appeal from their decision. In small towns, the judges of the civil tribunal decide such commercial cases. The courts of criminal jurisdiction are of three kinds. The tribunals of ordinary police (that is, the justice of the peace court in each canton) have the cognizance of small offences, which are punishable by a fine not exceeding 15 francs (12s.), or by imprisonment not exceeding 5 days. Offences of a more serious character, which French law calls del its, are judged by a special section of the tribunals of first instance, bearing the name of tribunal correctionnel. This tribunal can be appealed to from the sentences pro nounced by tribunals of police; but its judgments are also subject to the revision of the cours d appel. Offences which rank as crimes are judged by the cour d assiset, con sisting of three magistrates and twelve jurors. The jury, as in England, decides only on the facts of the case, leaving the application of the law to the judges. The assizes are the oidy courts that are not stationary,. They are held in the chief towns of the departments once in three months. In all criminal suits, the first inquiry is confided to a special magistrate attached to the tribunal, called jnye d instruction. He conducts the necessary investigations privately and with almost absolute power. An order of non-lieu issued by this magistrate at once puts an end to any prosecution. But if he finds that the case should go to trial, he hands it over to the court, before which a public prosecutor, with the title of procureitr, or procureur-yeneral de la republique, maintains and endea vours to prove the accusation. Above these various tribunals the court of cassation Court stands supreme. It is held at Paris, and is composed of cassa- three chambers, the chambre des requetes, the ckambre civile, tlon- and the chambre criminelle. Its province is to decide in all appeals from the other courts, investigating, not the facts of the case, but the forms of law, and ordering, wherever these have been infringed or deviated from, a new trial before such other tribunal as it thinks fit. Among the special jurisdictions may be mentioned the Special military tribunals or councils of war, which sit in judgment courts, on crimes and offences committed by soldiers, or by civilians in a town or district proclaimed by the Government as in a state of siege ; the maritime tribunals, which are to the navy what the councils of war are to the land forces ; and the councils of discipline for lawyers and other pro fessional corporations. The cour des comptes deserves special notice. It consists of three chambers, with a presi dent in chief over the whole court, and three presidents (one for each chamber), a general procurator, a chief greffier, 102 councillors, 20 auditors, and 81 clerks. This im portant institution, which costs 1,554,500 francs a year, was created in 1807 in order to control all the accounts of the Government officials. Certain agents who are not magis trates are, however, connected with the administration of justice. Such are the greffiers (clerks of the court), who keep the archives, and receive a salary from the Govern ment ; the kuissiers (sheriff-officers), who give notice of summonses and sentences; and the avoiies (solicitors) and the public notaries (notaires). Statistics of Justice (1874). In 1874 the jugcs de paix had Statistics before their bar, with a view to private settlement, a total of of justice 2,160,116 cases, and brought the parties to an agreement in 856,340, (1874). a result which is hardly satisfactory. As judges, they had on their rolls 391,129 cases, to which 5166 electoral disputes must be added. Their decisions were appealed from in 4460 cases. There were 125,248 cases on the rolls of the civil tribunals of first instance. The commercial courts had 255,333 cases before them, 5596 of which were cases of failure or bankruptcy. In 1850 the number was only 138,027. The decisions of the various courts above mentioned were followed by 10,555 appeals, which were brought before the cours d appel. In about 67 per cent, of these the original sentences were confirmed. Of ofTences 168,835 were brought under the consideration of the tribunaux correctionnels, 171,431 males and 31,678 females being implicated in them. Of these 7509 were under sixteen years of age, and 146,588 above twenty-one. The tribunals acquitted 13,506. Out of 7949 appeals the cours d appel confirmed about three-fourths of the original sentences, and in 1206 cases increased the punishment awarded by the tribunaux correctionnels. The jury and judges of assize courts tried 4084 cases, affecting 5228 prisoners, 4368 being males and 860 females ; 55 were under sixteen years of age, 799 under twenty-one, and 284 above sixty; 2818 were immarried ; and nearly the half of the number consisted of people living in towns; 170 only had received a good education; 1810 could