Each court of appeal comprises at least one investigating chamber.
This court is composed of a chamber president, exclusively attached to this service, and two councillors who may, if necessary, provide service to the other chambers of the court.
The president of the investigating chamber is appointed by decree, after consulting the Conseil supérieur de la magistrature. If the president of the investigating chamber is absent or unable to act, the first president appoints another chamber president or a councillor to replace him or her on a temporary basis.
The councillors making up the investigating chamber are appointed each year, for the duration of the following judicial year, by the general assembly of the court.
A decree may provide that the president of the investigating chamber of a court of appeal with fewer than three chambers will exceptionally serve another chamber of the same court.