Stages of the proceedings

Deliberation

The duration of deliberations is not fixed by law.
The jury’s votes count as much as those of the judges.
The court and the jury must decide if the accused is guilty, with a fixed majority. It takes a minimum of 8 votes out of 12 for a case in first instance, and 10 out of 15 in an appeal.
If the accused is declared not guilty, the deliberations will end. If not, they must vote on the sentence. If a majority vote is not obtained after a first round, they must continue until it is, reducing the sentence at each vote.
All votes are by secret ballot.

Image : Deliberation room, Papon Trial Law Courts in Bordeaux.


Noëlle Herrenschmidt. 1998. . pencil and watercolour, 32x41 cm.

© Noëlle Herrenschmidt

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