Stages of the proceedings

Forming a jury

To constitute a jury, the presiding judge is given a list with names of potential jury members taken from the electoral poll and satisfying the criteria of the Code de procédure pénale.
In a public sitting, the judge draws 9 or 12 jury members, as well as standby members. Then the accused, the lawyers and the State Counsel can refuse a certain number of those members, without giving any reason.
When the jury is established, the presiding judge reads the serment des jurés (juror’s oath), and each member must be sworn in individually.