Chapter V: Opening of sessions

At the place, day and time fixed for the opening of the session, the court shall sit. The clerk shall call the jurors entered on the list drawn up in accordance with article 266. The court shall rule on the case of absent jurors. A juror who, without legitimate reason, has not complied with the summons he has received may be sentenced by the court to a fine of 3,750…

If any of the jurors present do not meet the legal aptitude conditions required by articles 255,256 and 257, the court shall order that their names be struck from the list and sent to the first president of the court of appeal or to the president of the judicial tribunal, seat of the assize court, for the purpose of removal from the annual list. The same applies to the names…

If, because of absences or following striking off by the court, there remain, on the session list, fewer than twenty jurors or, when during the session the assize court must rule on an appeal, fewer than twenty-three jurors, this number is completed by the substitute jurors, in the order in which they are entered; in the event of insufficiency, by jurors drawn by lot, in open court, from among the…

All of the court’s decisions are set out in a reasoned judgment, after the public prosecutor has been heard. This judgment may only be challenged by way of an appeal in cassation at the same time as the judgment on the merits.

Before the judgment in each case, the court shall, if necessary, carry out the operations provided for in articles 288, 289 and 289-1. The court also orders that the names of the spouses, parents and relatives up to and including the degree of uncle or nephew of the accused or his lawyer, as well as the names of those who, in the case, are witnesses, interpreters, whistleblowers, experts, plaintiffs or…

Any judgment modifying the composition of the session list drawn up in accordance with Article 266 shall be brought to the attention of the accused by the court clerk, without formality. The accused or his lawyer may request that a delay, which may not exceed one hour, be observed before the opening of the proceedings.