French judicial system in post-Napoleonic France
Encyclopedia
The French judicial system in post-Napoleonic France was an intricate system of relations between the government
and the police/judicial force. Together they helped to minimize crime
while successfully fulfilling the guarantees made in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen written in 1789. The basis for the declaration comes from Nicolas Bergasse
in the "Report on the Organization of Judicial Power" proposed on 17 August 1789, Adrien Duport
in the "Fundamental Principles of Policing and Justice, Submitted on Behalf of the Committee on the Constitution" written 22 December 1789, and Jacques Guillaume Thouret
in the "Address on the Reorganization of the Judicial Power" written 24 March 1790. Many others have speculated that ideals such as innocence until proven guilty, equality between all classes and genders when dealing with law
, punishment
for opposition to the government, and religious freedom
come from the Bill of Rights
written in 1789. Also, similar to the Magna Carta
, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen restrict the power of the government when dealing with tax
es but also require higher taxes from poorer subjects. This attributed to the growing proletariat
class
that would eventually rise up and revolt again leading into the Reign of Terror
during the French Revolution
.
was seen as an act of high treason
which explains the harsh punishment. In Victor Hugo
's novel
Les Miserables
, Jean Valjean
receives a sentence of five years hard work in the galleys for the small crime of stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's children. This points out the injustice of the system. While providing a deterrent for crime, hardship cases such as Jean Valjean's and Fantine
's fall through the cracks of society
when they deserved special attention because of the situations that attributed to the cause of the crime.
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
and the police/judicial force. Together they helped to minimize crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
while successfully fulfilling the guarantees made in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen written in 1789. The basis for the declaration comes from Nicolas Bergasse
Nicolas Bergasse
Nicolas Bergasse was a French lawyer.He was born at Lyon. In his early years, he became a disciple of Franz Mesmer, and published a systemization of Mesmerism titled Considérations sur le magnetisme animal....
in the "Report on the Organization of Judicial Power" proposed on 17 August 1789, Adrien Duport
Adrien Duport
Adrien Duport was a French politician, and lawyer.-Life:He was born in Paris...
in the "Fundamental Principles of Policing and Justice, Submitted on Behalf of the Committee on the Constitution" written 22 December 1789, and Jacques Guillaume Thouret
Jacques Guillaume Thouret
Jacques Guillaume Thouret was a French Girondin revolutionary, lawyer, president of the National Constituent Assembly and victim of the guillotine.- Life :...
in the "Address on the Reorganization of the Judicial Power" written 24 March 1790. Many others have speculated that ideals such as innocence until proven guilty, equality between all classes and genders when dealing with law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, punishment
Punishment
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
for opposition to the government, and religious freedom
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
come from the Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
written in 1789. Also, similar to the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen restrict the power of the government when dealing with tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es but also require higher taxes from poorer subjects. This attributed to the growing proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
that would eventually rise up and revolt again leading into the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Punishments and Crime
Crime in Post-Napoleonic FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
was seen as an act of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
which explains the harsh punishment. In Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Les Miserables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
, Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables...
receives a sentence of five years hard work in the galleys for the small crime of stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's children. This points out the injustice of the system. While providing a deterrent for crime, hardship cases such as Jean Valjean's and Fantine
Fantine
Fantine is a character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables.- Backstory :"Fantine was one of those beings which are brought forth from the heart of the people... She was called Fantine because she had never been known by any other name...""All four were ravishingly beautiful. As to Fantine,...
's fall through the cracks of society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
when they deserved special attention because of the situations that attributed to the cause of the crime.
Works cited
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
- http://www.frenchgeeks.com/forum/Post-Napoleonic