French judiciary courts

Traffic accidents in which one of the vehicles belongs to the government would also fall under the jurisdiction of this court, as well, in this instance, as that of the juge civil, who also has the power to act; another example would be a case when the propriety of a contrôle d'identité is contested and needs to be determined.

The first-degree civil jurisdiction is so specific that it may be divided into several subjects areas (commercial, social, rural, etc.).

Other first-degree civil jurisdictions have a more general purview, but are divided by the taux de ressort, most often as the applicant requests.

A judge in a court of judgment jurisdiction has the same powers, but generally makes only limited use of them, since the juge d'instruction has already done so.

The essential function of a cour de judgement is to determine the guilt of defendants under criminal law and to sentence those it finds guilty.

Eight regional jurisdictions decide matters of preventive safety detention (rétention de sûreté)[b] after a prisoner has served out their sentence, in the case of persons convicted of certain very serious offenses and judged still to be dangerous to society.

At the Court of Appeal level litigation is considered by a single court—although in separate divisions—whether the matter is civil or criminal.

(Although appeals filed against a criminal jurisdiction ruling in an overseas department, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna or Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the appeal may be heard in the same jurisdiction that heard it in first instance, but different judges should sit on the panel that re-tries the case.

The judicial panel of the national jurisdiction for security detention [fr] is composed of three counselors from the Court of Cassation.

It hears appeals of decisions to impose preventive detention on convicted prisoners who have completed their sentence but are still considered dangerous.

Ir does not constitute a third degree of jurisdiction, because unlike the Courts of Appeal, it only addresses the legal form of the verdict.

Thus the juges du fond designation for first and second degree judges, which sometimes appears in cassation court verdicts.

If the court's verdict is on the other hand infirmatif, the judgment[4] is "cassé", or broken, essentially quashed or canceled.