Draft:Code of criminal procedure of 1808

Code of Criminal Procedure (France)

The Code d'instruction criminelle, which existed from November 16, 1808, to 1958 in France, was a collection of legal texts that organized the criminal procedure. It was abrogated in 1958 and replaced by the Code de procédure pénale.

This code incorporated elements of both the accusatory and inquisitorial models of legal procedure. It originated in efforts to reform the criminal justice system, driven by notable events in the 18th century, such as the Calas case in 1761 and the Sirven case in 1764, which led to a public demand for changes in the criminal justice system. The Constituent Assembly adopted the first Penal Code on October 6, 1791, followed by the Convention adopting the Code des délits et des peines on October 25, 1795. However, these legal texts were criticized for their imperfections.

Under the Consulate, in 1801, a commission of five members was appointed to draft a new criminal code, both for criminal law and criminal procedure. This commission, which included renowned jurists and practitioners, produced a comprehensive project containing 1,177 articles. Napoleon decided to publish two codes, with the Code de l'instruction criminelle governing criminal procedure, enacted later on January 1, 1811, and the Code pénal for criminal law, enacted on February 12, 1810.

The Code d'instruction criminelle emphasized the unity of civil and criminal justice, the separation of prosecution, instruction, and judgment functions, a tripartite classification of offenses (contraventions, délits, crimes), a double level of jurisdiction, and collegiality of judicial bodies.

The code incorporated elements of both the inquisitorial and accusatory models. During the investigative phase, the process was secret, written, and non-adversarial, while the trial phase was oral, public, and adversarial.

In 1958, the Code d'instruction criminelle was replaced by the Code de procédure pénale, which was adopted through an ordinance on December 23, 1958, and came into effect on March 2, 1959.