Court of appeal (France)

These courts were created under the name of ''tribunal d'appel (appeal tribunal) by the loi du 27 ventôse an VIII (law of March 18, 1800), which put an end to the "appel circulaire''" which had been put in place in 1790. The "appeal tribunals" became "courts of appeal" through the sénatus-consulte of 28 floréal an XII (May 18, 1804) and took the name "imperial courts" in 1810. Their name changed afterwards according to the régime: • "imperial court" during the First and Second Empire, • "royal court" during the Restoration and the July Monarchy, and • "court of appeal" during periods of republic, and as they are still known. Until 1958, appeals of judgments of a juge de paix, justice of the peace, and labor courts (''de prud'hommes) were brought before the tribunal civil (civil tribunal), while a tribunal d'arrondissement existed for appeals from tribunaux paritaires des baux ruraux and a regional commission of sécurité sociale'' to appeal the decisions of the first instance. Courts of appeal only recognize, in civil matters, recourse against the judgment of a civil tribunal or a commercial tribunal. In penal matters, courts of appeal accept correctional and police tribunal appeals. With the reform of 1958, the courts of appeals became the only appellate courts for the ordinary court system. The exceptions (assizes appeal court, National Court of incapacity and of workplace injury et National court to retain safety) were re-created afterwards. == Organisation ==

The magistrates of the court of appeal are generally experienced jurists who began their careers in a first-degree jurisdiction. Each court of appeal is presided over by a "premier président" (also known as the "chef de cour"). The other magistrates du siège are chamber presidents and the counselors, names which recall the parlements of the Ancien Régime. At the court of appeal the vice-présidents and the judges assigned to the first president are affected and can exercise their functions either at the court of appeal or in any related tribunal in that scope. The first president, the chamber presidents and the counselors of the court of appeal are the only magistrates who can preside at assizes courts. The magistrates of the parquet général are a prosecutor-general (procureur général or chef de parquet), attorneys-general and substituts généraux. Le procureur général oversees the application of criminal law throughout the court of appeal's jurisdiction, within which it assures proper functioning of the parquets. A procureur général or his substitut represent the ministère public before the ''cour d'assise'' (Assize Court) sitting at the court of appeal Each court is structured into a variable number of chambers, several of which may be specialized. A court of appeal at a minimum includes: • a correctional appeal chamber, • a chamber of instruction, • a chamber for penalty imposition, • a social chamber, • a special chamber for minors, • Other chambers generally include at least one commercial chamber and one civil chamber. Courts of appeal include a clerk's office staffed with civil servants. == Judgment formation ==

Collegial judgments are composed by three magistrates • the first president • a president of chamber • and a councillor (or president of chamber and two councillors) in the usual formation. The solemn formation consists of five magistrates and is notably used n cases sent back down from the court of cassation In rare cases, the court of appeal meets in the form of an "assembly of chambers" which comprises the magistrates of two chambers (three for the Paris Court of Appeals). == Attributions ==

Jurisdictional attributions . The court of appeal recognizes appeals of matters previously brought before the relevant tribunals, (du ressort), both civil and penal: • ''tribunal d'instance'' • police tribunals • tribunal de grande instance • ''juge d'instruction'' • judge of freedoms and of detention • correctional tribunal • judge of penalty imposition • commercial tribunal • labour council • joint agricultural land tribunal • Social security tribunal It is also the venue for recourse against bar association elections and some bar association decisions, as well as the decisions of other professional associations (ordres professionnels) of the French legal system. The Court of Appeal of Paris is competent to hear matters of recourse against the decisions of certain independent administrative regulation authorities (Autorité de la concurrence, Autorité des marchés financiers, Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la presse...). In the court of assizes, since the 2000 law on the presumption of innocence, an assize appeal court is not a second degree court but a different assize, in another département and with nine jurors instead of six. Not all matters can be appealed and thus some cannot be re-judged on appeal, for example the least important litigation. == List and jurisdictions of courts of appeal ==