French criminal law

The public prosecutor [fr] and his staff are responsible for the pursuit of legal proceedings and criminal prosecution, in collaboration with the police.

Article 2 of the French penal code addresses this situation, and offers victims the option of suing for damages via a civil action in the criminal courts.

England took a different approach, summoning a group of people to answer the question of guilt or innocence formerly assigned to God, and this became the origin of trial by jury and the accusatorial system.

[25] Development of the French criminal justice system has important roots in ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church.

In southern France of the 12th century for example, corruption and immoral behavior by clerics led to the establishment of various movements in response such as the Cathari, that the Church declared heretical, and authorized a Crusade against them at the Third Lateran Council.

From that time, and to a lesser extent until the end of the Ancien Régime, the functions of the police and the justice system were closely intertwined.

There was no central organization, but they adopted the collective name maréchaussée ("marshalcy") because the detachments were assigned to army marshals.

[fr] A series of reforms in the 18th century were instituted to make the Maréchaussée more effective, reinforce its military character, and improve coverage in the countryside.

Rulings generally followed the Roman Digest, except when local customs or written tracts clearly dealt with a specific situation.

Although French criminal lawyers were inspired by the Romans to write treatises on the law, the content was based more on local or feudal custom.

Ecclesiastical courts played an important role in the Middle Ages, and trials were held on any subject which the Church felt touched their domain (heresy, witchcraft, adultery, etc.

[19] The age of the offender was taken into consideration in dispensing punishment, retaining the Roman distinction between infants, pre-pubescent, pubescent, and so on.

[19] The guiding principle was retribution, not rehabilitation; the focus was on preserving the public order and the general population, while separating out and penalizing the bad portion.

Little was written, and the types of offenses and attendant penalties derived from custom; Roman texts were examined to determine what they were and how to proceed.

[30] One of the signal events of the French Revolution was the declaration by the National Constituent Assembly on 4 August 1789 abolishing the feudal system in France.

[38] With the 1810 penal code, sentences were given a set range, allowing judges more latitude to decide on the severity of the punishment.

The Penal Code project began with the work of the Commission for Revision created in 1974 by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

It introduced a number of new concepts, such as the criminal responsibility of legal persons (responsabilité pénale des personnes morales) (not including the State itself) in Article 121–2,[44] and increased the sentencing for almost all délits and crimes.

[48] The criminalization of clients of prostitution was passed in Law 444 of 2016, with the aim of combating human trafficking and the exploitation of sex workers.

[57] The main source of criminal law is the penal code: it "expresses a value system allowing one to distinguish what is permitted from what is prohibited, and to measure the level of tolerance of a transgression of social norms".

[59] It can be defined as an action or omission that disrupts the peace and exposes its perpetrator to a security measure [fr] or a penal sanction.

[64] Examples: rape; procuring; torture; inhumane working conditions; slavery; homicide; genocide; crimes against humanity; robbery with violence; receiving stolen goods; etc.

The majority of traffic offenses are handled administratively and automatically (suspension of driving license or adjustment of "points", in particular), but judges are sometimes required to issue fines themselves.

[84] A complaint by a victim or a law enforcement official, or denunciation by a third party is the initial step in launching a criminal investigation.

[k] This principle, also known by its Latin name, Nulla poena sine lege, is common to democratic states and considered fundamental to the rule of law, and was elucidated by Italian jurist Cesare Beccaria in his 1764 On Crimes and Punishments.

[88] If the perpetrator admits guilt, prosecutors have the option of imposing a composition pénale such as a fine or community service, which goes on their criminal record but is not considered a conviction.

[clarification needed] Since October, 2014, Article 130-1 of the Penal Code has defined the two main functions of criminal sanctions as: "to punish the perpetrator, and to promote their reform, reintegration, or rehabilitation.

Délits are more serious offenses, some of which carry a term of imprisonment, which may be from six months to ten years, and may be accompanied by fines.

[66] The most serious are crimes, punishable by a sentence of ten years to life imprisonment, such as murder, rape, robbery, or kidnapping.

Issues such as prison overcrowding, perspective of the victim, recidivism, non-custodial alternatives to incarceration, and being "tough on crime" are part of the public debate.