Evening star., 1899-09-14
The NEW LEGAL ASPECT
How the Dreyfus Case Can Be Reviewed by
Other Courts.
The Council of Revision and the
Court of Cassatfon's Real
Functions.
Written for The Evening Star.

| what neXt1 Inat is the question tnaC
| every one is asking now, and various specu-
| lations are daily circulated to the future
! course of the famous Dreyfus case. Peo-
| pie not acquainted with the rules of the
| French courts quite in confusion as to
| what will be the next judicial step. Some
| speak of appeal to the court of cessation.
| imagining that the said court Is kind Of
| supreme court to which all decisions
| whether civil criminal or military, can at
| all times be taken on appeal, while, in fact
| the court of cessation is only a high tribu-
| nal having principal function the quash-
| ing of any decisions of the civil or crimi
| nal courts that have violated the law. The
| said court has no authority, properly speak
| Ing. over the military or even the admin
| istrative courts, the latter being another
| branch of the judicial authorities in France
] 1t will presently be explained how indi-
| rectly the court of cessation can have cog
| nizance of cases tried by military courts.
The Military Courts.
! Let us first see in what consist the mill
| tary courts The French military code dis
| tinguishes between military courts in time
| of peace and in time of war. AS we are
| not concerned with the latter case we shall
| only speak of the former These consist
| in the councils of war tconseil de guerre)
| and in the councils of revision (conseil de
| revision), and. thirdly. of those under the
! name of ''prevotes.' who try persons at
| t2Ched to the army suffers and the like.
| 1st. The council of war In every army
| division there exists permanent and
] some times two councils of war. composed
| of q colonel or lieutenant colonel. who acts
| as president: major. two captains, a lieu
| tenant and a non-commissoned officer. If
| the accused is a colonel or other superior
| officer it is the minister of war who ap-
| points the Judges. but if the accused is of
| inferior rank the appointment of the judges
| is made by the commander-in-chief of the
| army division Of the place where the
| cuSed is to be tried. The trial of officers
above the rank of colonel IS intrusted to
| superior officers presided by a brigadier
| general or 4 general, according to circum-
| stances.
| Council of Revision.
| When a case is disposed of by the council
| of war, as, for instance by that of Rennes.
| which convicted Dreyfus, the prisoner may
appeal to the council of revision, the lat
| ter being composed of superior officers of
| the army division. 1t would be a mistake
| to suppose that the court of revision is
| kind of supreme court which can retry
| the case and give new verdict declaring
| the prisoner innocent or guilty. The coun-
Gil of revision does not enter into the
merits of the case at all. Its principal
| functions consist in the examination of the
| case and to declare whether the law or
the rules of the court have been violated
by the inferior court, namely. the council
Of war. When case is thus referred for
examination to the court of revision it's
president appoints reporter" who makes
a clear statement of the case, giving at
the time his own opinion, the latter
being selected among the judges of the said
court of revision.
If the verdict of the lower court is
quashed. the court of revision refers the
case for retral before another council of
war, If such second court exists in the
same army division, where the first trial
took place; if not before the council of
of a neghborng army division. The
following particularly could be- however,
noted: According to article 10 of the mill
tary code, if the verdict is quashed for
violation of the law or the rules OF the
court, the whole matter has to be submitted
for retrial to the new court, the previous
verdict being held null and void. II on the
other hand, it is quashed because the in
forior court made "a false application of
the penalty to the charges for which the
accused was found guilty" for instance. If
the prisoner was sentenced to a higher
penalty than what the law provides, then
the case is only referred to the new council
of war only for the particular point of the
penalty to be applied. No discussion in
| such a case can be raised as to the inno-
cence of the accused, because that matter
| is considered definitely settled.
The Court of Cessation.
| Now can a verdict rendered by the mill
| tary tribunals be taken before the court of
cessation? 1t has been above explained
lIldJ lI1 latter court Has no Jul iSti1tioh
properly speaking over military courts
| but exceptionally, 1t has such jurisdiction
| in limited manner In case the military
courts try persons who either do not be-
| long to the army. or are not of those per
sons who fall under the jurisdiction of such
courts the law specifies, then the court
| of cessation has the right to try such
case and quash the military decision In
the case of Drey fus, there cannot be raised
| a question of that kind, because he is an
of oft he
| the jurisdiction of the military courts
| This special right has been given to the
court of cessation, in order to protect per
sons not belonging to the army from an
arbitrary trial by the military tribunals
| Therefore Dreyfus is entitled to appeal to
the military court of revision and not to
the court Of cessation.
But can the case be brought indirectly
before the latter court? This can only be
done if the prisoner finds new facts hither-
| tn unknown and undisclosed to the judges
of the court of the council of war, tending
| to prove his innocence. In such case the
| court of cessation will have jurisdiction to
examine If there exist grounds for revision,
and ii so, to consider If they are Satisfac-
| tory, justifying the court to quash the YER
| dict of the military court. In case the
court of cessation takes the latter course.
| it can either refer the case for retrial be-
| fcre another military court, or be silent.
| In the latter case the government Is quite
free to have the case retired by prosecut-
| ing again the prisoner, or drop the matter
altogether
| The Present Question.
The question is, therefore, now, first,
| whether the law has been violated by the
| court-martial of Rennes, justifying the
| court of revision, equally military
court, above explained, to quash the
| verdict of the inferior court (the court Of
| Rennes). ordering retrial of the whole
| case, only refer it for 1.-The application
| OF the right penalty provided for by law
| in the application of which the inferior
| court may have made mistake without
| touching the question as to whether the
| prisoner is guilty or innocent.
| Second, In case the court of revision
maintains the verdict of the court of Rem
J nes. whether new facts can be produced
| justifying at any time the court of cassa-
| ton to re-eXamine the matter, and
| either order revision dismiss the appli
| aton. THEODORE P. ION.
LOCAL BANK EXAMINER.
| G. w. Robinson of West Virginia Sc
lected by the President.