Parquet floor in French right

See also: Parquet floor

In French right, the parquet floor indicates the Public ministry or magistrates “debouts” in opposition to the magistrates of the seat.

The term of Parquet would come from old French where it meant small park or enclosure. Nowadays, this direction would be preserved in Picardy patois: parquet floor meaning small Enclosed for anatidés and joinery: coffered ceilings or a Floor with boxes seeing its compartments being called “parquet floor” and by extension the term relating to the whole of work.

Under the Old Mode, to distinguish the “vulgar one”, or populates, of “crowned”, namely the estrade of the formation of judgment (to which the prosecutor belonged), the “bar” (become today the “bar of the witnesses”) delimited the field of justice. To differentiate the prosecutor from the judges, this one was positioned in a “Parquet”. This explanation, historically dubious, in any case makes it possible to include/understand why the Public ministry (public prosecutors, public prosecutors and substitutes) is indicated as being “the parquet floor” in the legal jargon.

The parquet floors are in load of the criminal proceedings and have the initiative of the continuations (or of the not-continuations). In France, they are under the hierarchy of the political power by the means of the Minister of Justice, Ministre for justice and the Direction of the criminal cases and the graces.

Independence of the parquet floor

As regards a theoretical answer one can say that with regard to the magistrates of the seat independence does not raise particular difficulties; indeed there is an independence of the judge in his function to judge with regard to the government.

With regard to the parquet floor the problem arises because of hierarchical subordination to the executive power and thus, from the structure even of the parquet floor, it is logical to say that it is under the dependence of the Minister of Justice and that he is thus not independent. Nevertheless this dependence is limited by the law, but also by the behavior of certain magistrates of the parquet floor who do not follow really the instructions of the parquet floor to the letter.

In a more practical way this speech is somewhat fragile because the magistrates consider that it is a simplistic vision, justice being a meeting of civils servant and by the fact of making career and of being well considering, frames this independence by a human aspect.

When one calls upon this question of independence near the magistrates of the parquet floor they are said independent. Admittedly they have written instructions but are independent for the remainder (90%). Certain authors (magistrates) think that the magistrates of the parquet floor really profit from the independence of the magistrature. It is thus the reason for which the governments in turn tried to say that they were going to cut the bridges between the government and the parquet floor. (Project in 2000 voted by the two rooms, but so that the reform passes, it was necessary that the two assemblies are gathered in Congress, which did not occur with the change from majority: some reconsidered the old votes and president Jacques Chirac thus did not dare to convene the Congress).

References

the CSM wants a statute of independence for the prosecutors - Reuters - 5/19/2006

Some notable Parquet floors

Parquet floor of Paris
Parquet floor of Nanterre

See too

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