Going to Court in France: Part 3

By Marie-Claire Lander

In our earlier lessons on legal vocabulary, we gave an overview of French courts and learned about etiquette and procedures in the courtroom. Now we are ready to enter the courtroom once again to take a look at some court cases and see what we can learn.

One of the earliest procès (trials) in French history dates back to 1456, the rehabilitation trial for none other than Joan of Arc (in response to the 1431 trial in which she was charged of heresy):

Et effectivement alors en mille quatre cent cinquante-six va se dérouler un énorme procès avec plus de trois cents témoins

And indeed, so in fourteen fifty-six, a huge trial is going to take place, with more than three hundred witnesses

Captions 35-37, Lionel Le musée de Jeanne d'Arc - Part 1
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Joan of Arc’s mother fought to have her daughter rehabilitated after her death in a huge trial that, as mentioned above, numbered over three hundred témoins (witnesses) who sought to clear the heroine’s name with their numerous témoignages (testimonies):

Et on va essayer, effectivement, au travers de tous ces témoignages, eh bien, de réhabiliter effectivement Jeanne.

And they're going to try, indeed, through all these testimonies, well, indeed to rehabilitate Joan.

Captions 39-40, Lionel Le musée de Jeanne d'Arc - Part 1
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Many of these témoins came to témoigner (testify) in the small town of Vaucouleurs, not far from Joan of Arc’s birthplace of Domrémy:

Y a eu des gens de Vaucouleurs qui sont allés témoigner à ce procès

There were people from Vaucouleurs who went to testify at this trial

Captions 42-43, Lionel Le musée de Jeanne d'Arc - Part 1
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More recently, another shocking affaire (case) made the headlines in France, l’affaire Pelicot:

L'affaire suscite une émotion immense.

The case is provoking huge emotions.

Caption 17, France 24 Affaire Pelicot : retour sur un procès hors normes
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Unlike le procès de Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc’s trial), which was noted for its large number of témoins, l’affaire Pelicot (the Pelicot case) shocked the public with its nombres d’accusés (number of accused) as well as the horrendous nature of les faits reprochés (the charges):

Hors norme par sa durée, le nombre d'accusés et par les faits reprochés

Unusual for its duration, the number of accused, and for the charges

Captions 47-49, France 24 Affaire Pelicot : retour sur un procès hors normes
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On its own, the noun le fait usually means “fact.” However, in a legal context, its meaning varies depending on the situation. Earlier on in the Pelicot video, les faits translates as “the events” to refer to what happened to the victim, events which were horrendous, as the journalist alludes to l’atrocité des faits (the atrocity of the events):

Gisèle Pelicot arrive au tribunal d'Avignon pour un procès que cette victime de viol a voulu public, malgré l'atrocité des faits.

Gisèle Pelicot arrives at the Avignon courthouse for a trial that this rape victim wanted public, despite the atrocity of the events.

Captions 3-5, France 24 Affaire Pelicot : retour sur un procès hors normes
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Indeed, un fait can also mean an unverified fact, in other words a “claim” or “allegation," an important distinction in a court of law. In this trial from the drama series Le Jour où tout a basculé, a husband nie les faits (denies the allegations) made by his wife:

Xavier Plot nie les faits.

Xavier Plot denies the allegations.

Caption 5, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Détournement d'argent dans le couple ? - Part 1
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In a later segment, a witness backs up Xavier Plot's déclarations (statements):

Le témoin vient de confirmer les déclarations de Xavier Plot.

The witness has just confirmed Xavier Plot's statements.

Caption 55, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Détournement d'argent dans le couple ? - Part 5
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However, l’accusation (the prosecution) is not buying it:

Mais pour l'accusation, tout ceci sonne faux.

But for the prosecution, all this sounds false.

Caption 56, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Détournement d'argent dans le couple ? - Part 5
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Note that outside of a legal context, une accusation is a direct cognate of the English "accusation." So be on the lookout for layman’s terms such as les faits, les déclarations, l'accusation, which take on specialized meanings as part of legal terminology.

To sum up, here is a list of vocabulary words covered in this lesson:

un procès: a trial

une affaire: a case

un témoignage: a testimony

témoigner: to testify

nier: to deny

un témoin: a witness

l’accusé: the accused

l'accusation: the prosecution, accusation

les faits reprochés: the charges

les faits: the allegations, the events

les déclarations: the statements