Tribunal correctionnel

In France, the correctional court (French: tribunal correctionnel ) is the court of first instance that has jurisdiction in criminal matters regarding offenses classified as délits (middling-level crimes) committed by an adult. In 2013, French correctional courts rendered 576,859 judgments and pronounced 501,171 verdicts. Lesser offenses called contraventions are judged by the Police Tribunal (proximity courts were permanently abolished on July 1, 2017). More serious wrongdoing such as felonies (crimes) are judged by the cour d'assises. In terms of judicial organisation, the correctional court is one of the chambers of the tribunal de grande instance. At the largest of these courts, several chambers may hear criminal matters. Such courts number the chambers to distinguish them, and they are referred to as the nth correctional chamber or the nth chamber of the correctional court.