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A French ''cour d'assises'' or Assize Court is a criminal trial court with original and appellate limited jurisdiction to hear cases involving defendants accused of felonies, or ''crimes'' in French. It is the only French court consisting in a jury trial.〔Serge Guinchard, André Varinard and Thierry Debard, ''Institutions juridictionnelles'' (= Judicials institutions), Paris, Dalloz editor, 11th edition, 2011.〕〔Serge Guinchard and Jacques Buisson, ''Criminal procedural law'', Paris, Lexisnexis editor, 7th edition, 2011.〕 Under French law, a ''crime'' is any criminal act punishable by over 10 years of prison, including murder and rape. (The English word "crime" is "''infraction''" in French legal terminology). In the past, the ''cour d'assises'' could also sentence convicted criminals to the death penalty for certain crimes, but the death penalty was abolished in France in 1981. ==Composition== Cases are tried by a jury of six jurors and a panel of three active judges, that is, one judge-in-charge (called "president" of the court) and two associate judges (''assesseurs''), on first hearing, and a jury of nine jurors and a panel of three active judges on appeal. Lists of eligible jurors are put together at random from the list of registered voters, but both the prosecution and defense have the right to peremptory challenge and can refuse a juror without stating a reason. Special procedures exist for the following categories of crimes and suspects: * Felonies committed by teenagers 16 years or older are tried in a special Juvenile Assize Court (''Cour d'Assises des Mineurs'') * Felonies such as terrorism or major illicit drug trafficking, which are tried in a special assize court sitting 7 active judges on first hearing and 9 on appeal, without jurors. In such cases a simple majority is needed to convict, instead of two thirds majority in jury trial. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cour d'assises」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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