Accusateur public

[1] Elected, as with the other judges of the criminal court, the accuser was responsible for prosecuting offences admitted to the indictment by the grand jury.

On 29 September 1791, the French Constituent Assembly decided that "public accusers will have the same costume as judges, with the exception of the feathers, placed around their hats; they will wear medals with the words 'public safety'.

[4] On 24 February 1792 Louis Pierre Manuel as procureur of the commune, charged with both the investigation and prosecution of crime, gave a speech.

The decree of 10 March 1793 created the Revolutionary Tribunal and appointed a public accuser Louis-Joseph Faure and two deputies to the court Jean-Baptiste Fleuriot-Lescot and Fouquier-Tinville.

[8][7] His office as public accuser arguably reflected a need to display the appearance of legality during what was essentially political command, more than a need to establish actual guilt.