Going to Court in France: Part 4

Now that we have explored various aspects of the French justice system—its courts, procedures, protocols, and some famous trials—let's take a closer look at the most common types of offenses the courts have to deal with and what court rulings are often issued. The French justice system rend (delivers) thousands of jugements (sentences) every year: 

Tous les ans, la justice française rend plus de quatre cent mille jugements en correctionnelle.

Every year, the French justice system delivers more than four hundred thousand sentences in criminal courts.

Captions 21-22, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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Some of these real-life cases have been dramatized in the series Le jour où tout a basculé - À l'audience, where all manner of crimes and misdemeanors are discussed:

Conflits, escroqueries, drames familiaux.

Conflicts, scams, family dramas.

Caption 25, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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In this particular case, a young mother is accused by her lover of une tentative d’escroquerie à la carte bancaire (attempted credit card fraud):

Elle comparaît pour tentative d'escroquerie à la carte bancaire.

She is appearing before the court for attempted credit card fraud.

Caption 42, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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However, the woman claims that she never attempted to escroquer (to scam) anyone and that her credit card was stolen from her:

J'ai jamais tenté d'escroquer qui que ce soit.

I've never attempted to scam anyone.

Caption 63, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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The prosecution has reason to believe that she may have simulé ce vol (simulated this theft) in order to escroquer son assurance (defraud her insurance). This time, the translation of escroquer is the more specific legal term “to defraud”: 

...dans ce dossier, y a de nombreux éléments qui laissent plutôt penser que vous avez simulé ce vol pour ensuite escroquer votre assurance.

...in this case, there are numerous elements that instead lead us to think that you simulated this theft to then defraud your insurance.

Captions 87-90, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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The stakes are high for the accused: if this woman is reconnue coupable (found guilty) she could face five years of prison and forty-five thousand euros d’amendes (in fines). Note the spelling of amendes with an e, not to be confused with amandes (almonds):

Si cette mère de famille est reconnue coupable des faits qui lui sont reprochés, elle encourt cinq années de prison et quarante-cinq mille euros d'amendes.

If this mother is found guilty of the charges that are being made against her, she incurs five years in prison and forty-five thousand euros in fines.

Captions 46-49, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 1

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In a major recent case, the right-wing politician Marine Le Pen has been convicted of another serious type of fraud, le détournement de fonds publics (embezzlement of public funds):

Marine Le Pen et huit autres personnes, huit euro députés ont été reconnus coupables de détournement de fonds publics à hauteur d'environ trois millions d'euros.

Marine Le Pen and eight other people, eight Euro deputies [Members of European Parliament] have been found guilty of embezzlement of public funds amounting to approximately three million euros.

Captions 18-21, France 24 Marine Le Pen reconnue coupable de détournement de fonds publics

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Le Pen was subject to une peine d'inéligibilité (sentence of ineligibility), which prevents her from running for office for the next five years:

Et tout le monde attend de savoir au final si cette peine d'inéligibilité avec exécution provisoire sera ou pas prononcée aujourd'hui à l'encontre de Marine Le Pen.

And everyone is waiting to know in the end whether this sentence of ineligibility with provisional execution will or will not be pronounced today against Marine Le Pen.

Captions 71-74, France 24 Marine Le Pen reconnue coupable de détournement de fonds publics

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Indeed, une peine d’inégibilité or a similar type of ban, such as une interdiction d'exercer (a ban from exercising one’s profession), can seem just as bad as une peine de prison (a prison sentence), a situation in which the doctor in the following video finds himself: 

Car si le tribunal reconnaît le docteur Cujasse coupable, outre une peine de prison, le prévenu encourt une interdiction d'exercer.

Because if the court finds Doctor Cujasse guilty, in addition to a prison sentence, the defendant risks being banned from exercising his profession.

Captions 40-42, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre - Part 1

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The ultimate peine is la peine de mort (death penalty), which was banned in France in 1981. In his humorous song "Le Crépi" (Stucco), Oldelaf jokingly mentions that though he is not in favor of la peine de mort, he thinks something should be done about people who invent eyesores like stucco:

Franchement je ne suis pas / Pour la peine de mort, mais là / Il faudrait faire quelque chose

Frankly I am not / For the death penalty, but here / We should do something

Captions 29-31, Oldelaf Le Crépi

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Thankfully, misdemeanors are usually discouraged with a simple warning. You may have come across the expression sous peine d’amende (under the penalty of a fine) on public signs such as the one Daniel Benchimol is reading here, which says that it is an offense to walk on grass, a common warning in France. (Incidentally, Parisians are divided over that rule, according to this article.) 

Il est interdit donc sous peine d'amende de marcher sur les pelouses et massifs

So it is forbidden, under penalty of a fine, to walk on the lawns and flowerbeds

Captions 34-35, Voyage en France Soissons - Part 2

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There you have it for our Going to Court series. We hope this glimpse into the legal French system will expand your vocabulary and inspire you to explore our legal series Le jour où tout a basculé - À l'audience. Thank you for reading!