What is the criminal appellate procedure/process in France?

Running Head : Criminal Appellate Procedure

What is Criminal Appellate Procedure /Process in France

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Criminal Appellate Procedure in France

Introduction to Criminal Appellate Procedure /Process in France

Based on a civil law system , the main feature behind the processing of procedures for implementing criminal justice in France revolves around the functioning of the Investigation Magistrate , who as a sort of judge is translated in French as the Juge d 'instruction . This Investigation Magistrate oversees cases of serious criminal nature and is completely independent from the political

systems . The prosecution on the other hand , does not have this liberty and works for and under the supervision of the judiciary ministry

The main responsibility of the Investigative Magistrate is to learn the true facts based on hearing witnesses and suspects , he can also searches and have the assistance of the judiciary police when required for investigations . While his role is not of a prosecutor , the Investigative Magistrate has the authority to get incriminating and exculpating evidences (translated as a ' charge et a ' decharge ' in French ) based on this , he may decide if there is validity in the case against the suspect for deferral to a tribunal or a court . While both the prosecution and the defense have the rights to request further actions deemed necessary in the case , the Investigation Magistrate has the options of agreeing or not agreeing with these requests

Naturally , like in most other countries with proper judiciary systems both the prosecution and the defense have the right to appeal against the decisions taken by the Investigation Magistrate before the Appeals Court . Victims thus have direct access to justice only after their cases have been deferred to the Appeals Court by the prosecutor to challenge his decision

A point to be noted here is that the Investigation Magistrates do not have the authority to investigate and initiate cases on their own . This mandate lies with the prosecution and it is only after their initiation of a case before the Investigation Magistrate that the course of justice sets forth up to the allowed levels of jurisdiction empowered with the Investigation Magistrate . Unlike in the past , the Investigation Magistrates can not recommend defendants in cases being supervised for remand without the approval of other judges

Furthermore , an Investigation Magistrate is also not allowed to sit in cases deferred by him to the tribunals and courts and is prohibited from all future cases where the same defendants may be involved . However , if victims or third parties a direct complaint with the Investigation Magistrate with relevance to the special circumstances provisions provided by the law , he can initiate an investigation after having sent the complaint to the District Prosecutor and after having taken his submission into account . It is only after having received this submission that the Investigations Magistrate can refuse to carry out any investigation if he feels convinced that the facts of the evidence do not qualify any further lawful prosecution

It is often that during...