Going to Court in France

The series Le jour où tout a basculé - À l'audience contains a wealth of legal jargon. This lesson will clear up some of the terms you'll come across there, specifically the differences between the multiple French words for "court." Whether you have an immediate use for it, enjoy watching courtroom dramas, or just want to expand your legal vocabulary in French, this lesson is for you! 

The generic word for "court" is le tribunal, a cognate of the English "tribunal":

Docteur Cujasse, le tribunal vous dispense de peine.

Dr. Cujasse, the court dismisses the charges against you.

Caption 25, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre - Part 7

 Play Caption

So how would you translate the idiom “to go to court,” as in to take legal action? It's simply aller au tribunal:

L’entreprise est prête à aller au tribunal pour empêcher ces mesures draconiennes.

The company is prepared to go to court to stop these drastic measures.

In French, le tribunal refers not only to the institution of the court but also to the building itself, the courthouse (unlike in English, a distinction is not made between them). Le tribunal is a place where a certain decorum is expected, as the judge reminds the audience in this video:

Nous sommes dans un tribunal. Merci.

We are in a courthouse. Thank you.

Caption 63, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre - Part 3

 Play Caption

Le tribunal, the building, also has another name, le palais de justice (law court, court of law). As its name suggests, le palais de justice often looks like “a palace,” an imposing historic building with Greek columns, similar to US courthouses:

On peut dire le Palais de Justice ou le Tribunal.

One can say the Courthouse or the Tribunal.

Caption 25, Lionel à Metz - Part 1

 Play Caption

Going back to le tribunal, the institution, why does this sometimes translate as “tribunal” in English? Both French and English use the word “tribunal” when referring to certain specialized courts, such as un tribunal militaire (a military tribunal):

Donc on va lire soit l'ordonnance qui déclare une personne otage, soit on va lire le jugement qui a été rendu par un tribunal militaire allemand qui a condamné à mort un résistant.

So they'll read either the ordinance that declares a person hostage, or they'll read the judgment that was rendered by a German military tribunal that condemned a Resistance fighter to death.

Captions 16-18, Voyage en France Le Mémorial de la France combattante - Part 2

 Play Caption

There is yet another type of tribunal called une tribune in French, originally a platform where Roman orators spoke from. Today this refers to a special European tribunal, la tribune du Parlement européen:

Il est régulièrement invité à les défendre à la tribune du Parlement européen à Bruxelles.

He is regularly invited to defend them in the tribunal of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Captions 26-27, Le Mans TV Youssef Ben Amar, un rappeur engagé en politique

 Play Caption

La tribune has a wide range of other meanings as well, including "platform," "bleachers," and "opinion column."

Now that we've explored le tribunal, let's move on to la cour. La cour is a cognate of the English "court," but it's only used to describe certain types of courts. 

For instance, we have la Cour Suprême (Supreme Court). While the French-Canadian legal system is based on French civil law, Quebec has adopted the American term "Supreme Court," la Cour Suprême. As the following video notes, la Cour Suprême du Canada made some controversial decisions regarding the French language in Quebec:

Ça a été très mal vu ; la Cour Suprême du Canada a démoli une partie de la loi.

It was looked upon very badly; the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a part of the law.

Caption 27, Le Québec parle aux Français - Part 3

 Play Caption

On the other hand, France does not have la Cour Suprême but la cour de cassation, the highest court where final rulings are made. This can be roughly translated as "final court of appeal":

La cour de cassation est la plus haute juridiction de l'ordre judiciaire français.

The final court of appeal is the highest court in the French judicial system.

Before a case can reach la cour de cassation, it has to go through the lower courts, namely la cour d’appel (the court of appeals):

La cour d'appel a aussi certaines compétences administratives.

The court of appeals also has administrative functions.

To sum up, le tribunal is the general word for "court" in French, referring both to a courthouse and to the juridical institution. It usually translates as “court” in English, unless referring to specific tribunals. On the other hand, la cour only refers to specific types of courts (cour de cassation, cour d'appel).

Cette leçon est levée (this lesson is adjourned). See you in court for another session on legal vocabulary!