Morning journal and courier., 1893-02-20
COURTS OF LAW IN FRANCE. Good aud Bad Features of the French Judicial System, With a Glance at Some of the Peculiarities of Judges and Iurfes,
pnprS Fsh i

PARIS, rep. l. To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER.
 The great Bonaparte impressed himself almost as much upon the jurisprudence of France upon the annals which teem with her military exploits. To bs strictly exact, we must credit the origin of the code Napoleon to those stormy conven- tIons which ruled France during the rev olutionary period. But it was under the consulate and the first empire that this work was completed, and inevitably the markable man, received from his genius it's final impress of thoroughness and justice This code Napoleon Is really a series of five codes, and with only slight notifications, these being wholly inads quste, as msny think, to meet the al- tered conditions of French society, 1t has remained, spite of all changes of govern ment, as the supreme guide in both civil and criminal procedure down to the pres ent day.
 The appointment of ju3ges is in the hsnd5 of the president of the republic, who, of course, Is advised in this deli cate business by the ministry of justice. Practically the office of judge ia one which terminates only when the limit of age has been reached, the incumbent re- tiripg thsn upon pension, A justice of the peace, however, may be removed at any time by the head of the state. The president can depose such person by a word. But this power Is only ex ercised in cases ot extreme necessity and as reG .rds the judges of higher rank the president can exercise the power ci removal in their csses only with the con sent of the Court of Cessation. Thii court answers somewhat to our own Su preme courts. In ordinary law cases i has no initiative, its province being mere ly to review, for approval or rejection the contested decisions of certain othe tribunals.
 Like most of the public officials O France, her judges are poorly paid. Il England 1t is always good pay or no pay Justices of the peace in that nation serv their country solely for the honor in yolved. In France the ordinary pay 0 such persons is abo1t three hundred an' sixty dollars a year. To skip from th lowest to the highest, the English chic justice pockets a stipend fully equal t that of the occupant of our presidentis chair, whereas the highest judge in France the first president of the Court of Casss ton, has to support his dignity, we ar , assured, on 8 yearly salary of about si thousand dollars. This is certainly mab ing justice cheap enough, and it no dout innures to the advantage of litigants in rs ducsd costs. But it also has the effect C l frop, iudio;ol offioa all uhn ha y not private income, for 1t Is inconceivi ble that high dignitaries of state can kee up appearances with no funds to dra' upon save the meager salaries instance above. One would think, too, that sue ill-paid judges would be in danger ( corruption, but as the French themselve are not complaining on this score, would hardly be proper for a foreigne to do so, and, perhaps, after all, tt for these small expenditures as some oil CT nations are, not excepting our ow even, for much larger ones.
 Where judges cost go little you ma naturally look for 8 great profusiou ( them, and go 1t is in France. Each a
 rondisement has its court of first instanc
 and the courts of appeal, distributed col
 veniently throughout the entire countr,
 number twenty-six. The latter, for flu
 ther convenience, are subdivlded into
 many different chambers ss the psrtic e lar locality may need, and each of the 8 chambers has a judicial staff of half f dozen or 30. The other courts have also r. considerable staff of judges. a full bent Il of the court of cessation, consisting Ia forty y-nine. This, too, exclusive of Il O outer court or parquet, as 1t Is calle e This consists of the procurator gener d and several advocates, who hold technics # ly the position of assistant judges, the n work being to prepare cases for trial, ar B. afterwards to pilot them through T ,s parquet is feature of all French cour " It answers in @ measure to our own pro. it cutting attorneys office, with some of t A functions of a clerk of the court attach st to 1t, but 1t has here & decidedly judic ,e standing. Not only do those belonging ae it wear the judicial cap and gown, but th