The accused person, the defendant, the accused and any party to the proceedings who wishes to challenge an examining magistrate, a police magistrate, one, several or all of the judges of the criminal court, the councillors of the court of appeal or the assize court must, on pain of nullity, submit a request to the first president of the court of appeal.
The magistrates of the public prosecutor’s office may not be challenged.
The application must designate by name the magistrate or magistrates challenged and contain a statement of the grounds relied on with all the useful justifications in support of the application.
A party who has proceeded voluntarily before a court, tribunal or investigating judge will only be allowed to apply for disqualification on the grounds of circumstances that have arisen since, where they are such as to constitute a ground for disqualification.