page_title: French judiciary courts
section_title: First Degree Penal Jurisdictions
hierarchical_section_title: French judiciary courts / First Degree Penal Jurisdictions
context_page_description: In France the jurisdictions of the ordre judiciaire, of the French court system are empowered to try either litigation between persons or criminal law cases. They may intervene:
  in the matter of contention in litigation between persons
  in the domaine gracieux
  On an exceptional basis the judiciary may also become involved in certain litigation between an individual and the State or some other public person. Such litigation would include matters of expropriation, for example, where the expropriated party does not agree with the indemnification amount. 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.
context_section_description: There are two categories of criminal jurisdiction: jurisdictions d'instruction and the jurisdictions de jugement. This distinction is notably echoed by the Code de procédure pénale, (Code of Penal Procedure), which nevertheless does not define how to distinguish the one from the other. The distinction is even more nuanced to make, since in French procedural law the "judgment" jurisdictions also have powers of investigation (d'instruction).
  A jurisdiction d'instruction has powers of criminal investigation and can proceed or cause to proceed different investigations: it can hear witnesses and civil parties (parties civiles), search, seal, appoint and expert, put a suspect in temporary detention or in detention under judiciary supervision, and rule on the different questions that arise in the course of criminal investigation, such as the return of seized assets.
  A judge in a court de jugement 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.
  Penal jurisdictions judge infractions, and they also determine the civil consequences of committing the infraction.
caption: Organization of the French judiciary for criminal matters.
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