Section 2: The jury

The preparatory list must be drawn up in two originals, one of which is deposited at the town hall, and for Paris at the annexed town hall, and the other sent before 15 July to the secretariat-registry of the court sitting the assize court. The mayor must notify the persons who have been drawn by lot. He asks them to state their profession. He informs them that they have the…

The annual list is drawn up at the seat of each assize court by a commission chaired, at the seat of the court of appeal, by the first president or his delegate and, in the judicial courts, seats of the assize court, by the president of the court or his delegate. This commission comprises, in addition to its chairman: Three judges appointed each year by the general assembly of the…

The committee meets when convened by its chairman at the seat of the assize court, during the month of September. Its secretariat is provided by the registrar of the court in which the Assize Court has its seat. It excludes people who do not meet the legal aptitude conditions resulting from articles 255,256 and 257. It rules on applications submitted pursuant to Article 258. Also excluded are the persons referred…

A special list of alternate jurors shall also be drawn up each year by the commission, under the conditions provided for in Article 263, outside the annual list of jurors. Alternate jurors must reside in the town in which the Assize Court has its seat. The number of jurors appearing on this list, which may not be less than fifty nor more than seven hundred, is fixed, for each assize…

Notwithstanding the last paragraph of Article 260, the first two paragraphs of Article 261-1 and the first paragraph of Article 263, the timetable for the operations required to draw up the annual list of jurors is set by decree in the Conseil d’Etat.

The annual list and the special list are sent by the chairman of the commission to the mayor of each municipality. The mayor is required to inform the first president of the court of appeal or the president of the judicial court, seat of the assize court, of any deaths, incapacities or legal incompatibilities that may affect the persons whose names are entered on these lists, as soon as they…

At least thirty days before the opening of the assizes, the first president of the court of appeal, or his delegate, or the president of the judicial tribunal, seat of the assize court, or his delegate, draws lots, in open court, from the annual list, the names of thirty-five jurors who will form the session list. He shall also draw the names of ten alternate jurors from the special list….

At least fifteen days before the opening of the session, the clerk of the assize court convenes each of the full and alternate jurors by post. This notice specifies the date and time of the opening of the session, its foreseeable duration and the place where it will be held. It reiterates the obligation of any citizen required to respond to this summons on pain of being fined in accordance…