Going to Court in France: Part 2

We continue our lesson on legal vocabulary. Now that we have explored various French courts and their differences with American courts, we are ready to enter the courtroom and discover the jargon used during court proceedings. We will discuss etiquette, honorific titles, and the similarities and differences between American and French courtroom procedures with the help of our Yabla series Le jour où tout a basculé.

The most important person in the courtroom is le juge or la juge (the judge), who presides over les débats (the proceedings). In this episode, the judge is female, but the narrator refers to her using the definite masculine pronoun le (the). Old habits die hard, perhaps?

C'est le juge Beaulieu qui préside les débats.

It's Judge Beaulieu who is presiding over the proceedings.

Caption 51, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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Le/la juge officially declares l’audience ouverte (the hearing open) with the following statement:

L'audience est ouverte.

The hearing is open.

Caption 23, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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Conversely, at the end of the hearing, the judge will say:

L’audience est levée.

The hearing is adjourned.

After opening the hearing the judge asks the accused, Ms. Berdil, to se présenter à la barre (take the stand). The literal translation is "go to the bar":

Madame Berdil, présentez-vous à la barre s'il vous plaît.

Ms. Berdil, please go to the bar [take the stand].

Caption 53, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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Just as in American courtrooms, French judges are addressed using a proper honorific title. In French, this is Monsieur le Président or Madame la Présidente (Mr. or Madam President), equivalent to "Your Honor":

Madame la Présidente, je tiens à préciser que ma cliente nie catégoriquement les faits qui lui sont reprochés.

Madam President [Your Honor], I would like to clarify that my client categorically denies the charges that are made against her.

Captions 56-58, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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But it's also acceptable to drop the more formal title Monsieur le Président/Madame la Présidente and address judges by their professional designation, Monsieur le Juge/Madame la Juge (literally, "Mr./Madam Judge") to make a simple informal request:

Monsieur le Juge, je peux retourner à ma place ?

Your Honor, may I return to my seat?

Caption 23, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Escroqué par une "marieuse" ? - Part 5

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Judges also show respect to lawyers in the courtroom by using the honorific title Maître (Counselor), which applies to both male and female lawyers:

Peut-être, Maître, mais nous devons d'abord juger votre client.

Perhaps, Counselor, but first we must judge your client.

Captions 10-11, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre - Part 7

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Unlike in English, where it is acceptable to say “sir” or “ma'am” to address a lawyer, it is improper to use monsieur (sir) or madame (ma'am) to address a French lawyer. You have to use Maître:

Merci, Maître.

Thank you, sir.

Caption 22, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Escroqué par une "marieuse" ? - Part 5

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Likewise, the title Maître remains when addressing the lawyer by name. For example, in this video, the lawyer is called Maître Ferrigni. But since there's no direct equivalent of Maître as a term of address in English, the translation is simply "Ms. Ferrigni":

Maître Ferrigni, l'avocate de l'agriculteur

Ms. Ferrigni, the farmer's lawyer

Caption 1, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Escroqué par une "marieuse" ? - Part 5

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English does have an equivalent of Maître in the abbreviation "Esq." (Esquire), which, unlike Maître, only follows the lawyer's full name:

Maître Louise Ferrigni

Louise Ferrigni, Esq.

Finally, let's step outside the courtroom for a moment and discuss what some French people call les avocats (lawyers) who are less than scrupulous. There are two colloquial expressions for this. The first one is un avocat marron (a crooked lawyer). But note the pun: the literal translation of this is “a brown avocado”! The other colorful expression is un avocat véreux (a shady lawyer, literally "a wormy avocado"):

Un avocat marron est un avocat véreux.

A crooked lawyer is a shady lawyer.

Now that you are familiar with some of the vocabulary typically used during court proceedings, are you ready to follow some trials in a French court for some more legal vocabulary? See you again in the courtroom for some interesting discoveries...