Abstract EN:

In the judicial system established by the "Assemblee constituante", the criminal courts are the best examples we can find of the democratic principles of national sovereignty (the creation of a jury, the election of judges) and equality in the eyes of the law (the criminal code of 1791). The evolution of this institution through the political upheavals and the conflicts over competence or ideological issues can best be seen in the life of the criminal court of Maine-et-loire, from the day it was created in 1792, until it was replaced by the "Cour d'assises" in 1811. The "18 brumaire an 8" is the breaking point. The Convention had politicized the jury, the Directoire neutralized it, the Consulate and the Empire will attempt to tame it. Whereas, before the "an 8", judges were elected or nominated to suit political circumstances, the bonapartist regime finally imposed their nomination. The workings of the court also became dependent on the authoritarian policy of the first consul, later of the emperor. Special courts without a jury will be created to enforce a harsh repression. These twenty years of criminal justice were also twenty years of conflicts during which the democratic gains of the judicial revolution were at stake.