PD Traveled to Paris, 2006
by
Mary
K. La Rue C.P., El Paso, TX
In April of 2006, a group of members of the Paralegal Division of the State
Bar of Texas traveled to Paris, France, the City of Light, to learn about the
French legal/governmental system and to take in some of the sights. It was a
wonderful trip. I think every one of us who went is ready to go back as soon as
we get the chance.
Part One: The French Legal System
Unlike the Common Law system we are so familiar with in our own country,
France, like most of the rest of Europe, is a Civil Law or Civil Code country.
Whereas the Common Law system we inherited from England is a legacy of the
British Empire, the Civil Code system is a legacy of the Roman Empire. It has
its origins in the law codes of the Romans, which were later modified by early
Christian emperors and then by Napoleon, and further modified and updated by
legislatures in the various countries that have this system. Laws in a Civil
Code system are grouped together by topic, and they don't really have the
concept of case law and precedent as we know them.
We in the U.S. are familiar with modern efforts to codify statutes in this
country, like our Texas Civil Practices & Remedies Code, Texas Probate Code,
Texas Family Code, etc. So we do have some familiarity with the basic concept of
codes.
France has the familiar criminal/civil split like we do, and they have the
familiar three-tier lower courts, appeals courts and "supreme" courts
as we do. And they have specialty courts like we do, such as commercial courts.
All French law is national law, since France does not have any states. France
has a parliamentary political system, with a President who is elected by the
voters, and he then appoints a Prime Minister, who works with the national
legislature. I say "he" but France is maybe, for the first time, going
to have a female president soon. It will be interesting to see what happens in
that regard in the next few years.
Judges in civil law countries are not elected or appointed. They are civil
servants, and you have to choose if you want to be a lawyer or a judge. The
number of judge students is regulated, so that there will not be too few or too
many judges.
Unlike the adversarial system we have in our country, the French use the
inquisitional system. In this system, the judge works up the case more the way
attorneys and paralegals do in our country, and makes his or her ruling based on
his or her knowledge of the case. Juries are not used in most cases. Usually,
written submissions, not examination and cross-examination of witnesses, is the
way evidence comes before the judge. If you have ever seen the movie
"Judgment at Nuremberg" about the trials of Nazi officials by the
Allies after the end of World War II, then you have a fairly good idea of how
the inquisitional system works. We had the good fortune to be able to meet with
two French lawyers who are members of the Paris Bar, and they told us about a
trial or trials they had seen in the U.S. The surprise in their voices was very
apparent when they talked about how active a role the attorneys in a U.S.
courtroom take, how they perceived American lawyers to be in charge of running
the trial. It is very different in a civil law system, where the Judges are much
more in charge of things.
As in our country, French attorneys are largely self-regulating, once they
graduate from law school and are licensed. And as in our country, they belong to
the local bar, the Paris Bar being the largest. The Paris Bar has a beautiful
building near the Palace of Justice which is where we were graciously welcomed
by the two French attorneys, or "avocats," Ms. Beatrice Castellane and
Mr. Oliver Cousi.
We learned that the concept of paralegals has not really caught on in France.
We were told that there are paralegals in U.S. firms with offices in France, but
not really any French paralegals. The lawyers we met were familiar with what we
did and seemed to be sold on the concept, but said that the use of younger
people and students as assistants or apprentices is the way they do things
there. After the recent street protests you might have heard about, I don't
think that system is going to change anytime soon.
Part Two: The Sightseeing
I have to agree with Henry James, who said, "Paris is the greatest
temple ever built to material joys and the lust of the eyes." Indeed it is.
There is much to see and do in Paris, so we tried to fit in as much as we
possibly could each day, but luckily, many of us had time for a walk along the
banks of the Seine and for a stroll down the busy Champs Elysees, with its
famous stores and cafes and the magnificent Arc de Triumph, where we could
mingle with Parisians in the soft spring sunshine. Thousands were out to sip
drinks, sail boats in ponds, walk their dogs, or to window shop - or
"window lick" as they call it.
Paris is bursting with museums. The Louvre, of course, and the Orsay, and so
many others. I think you could spend a month going from museum to museum every
day and never run out of wonderful things to see. The Musee de Orsay is home to
the Impressionists: Monet, Manet, Degas, Gauguin, and so many others. Every
single wall is full of masterpieces. And the view of Paris from the top floor
deck is wonderful.
The Louvre is truly overwhelming. We were told that there are 500,000 pieces
in its collection, including of course, the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and so
much more. You have to just pick a few things to focus on that you really want
to see because there is no way you can see everything. I was so overcome by the
sight of the Winged Victory of Samothrace that I had to stay in her presence for
as long as I could. There is just so much to savor, you need days to take it all
in. And outside the Louvre are the beautiful flowerbeds, pools and gardens of
the Tuileries. Paris is full of beautiful parks and gardens.
Unlike all the other tourists, we got a personal tour of the Palace of
Justice by the Chief Historian and Archivist of the Paris Bar, Mr. M. Yves
Ozanam. His knowledge of the place was amazing and his English was delightful.
The Palace of Justice is part of a very old complex of buildings on the Seine
called the Conciergerie, some of which dates back to medieval times. Type that
name into your search engine and try to find a photo of it -- it's magnificent.
He took us to the law library and to three beautiful main ceremonial courtrooms.
We were shown the very courtroom where Marshall Petain, the head of the French
government during the Nazi occupation, was judged after France was liberated.
During the Revolution, some courtrooms were used by revolutionary tribunals to
condemn those unfortunate enough to be brought before them, and the prison cells
held them as they awaited their fate. The area where their hair was cut short
and their clothing loosened around the neck and the small area where they were
loaded into carts for the trip to the plaza were the guillotine was set up is
still there, although it is now a cafe' where avocats can grab something quick
to eat when they have a break.
The Conciergerie was a royal palace when first built, and King Louis IX (St.
Louis) had a chapel built there. Sainte-Chapelle is its name, and we visited it
on the 758th anniversary of its dedication, which was on April 26,
1248. It is an ethereal place full of beautiful stained glass and delicate stone
arches. Paris is full of churches, and we did not get to see all of them, but
Sainte-Chapelle must certainly be one of the loveliest. One of those other
churches is of course Notre Dame of Paris, and we joined the flood of tourists
there to see her. She too is very beautiful, but larger and more imposing. We
learned she is built on the site of an old Roman temple. Most of us also got to
see the striking Basilica of Sacre Coeur in the area of Paris called Montmartre.
Montmartre is the highest point in Paris, and thankfully, there is a small
railway to get you to the top of the hill. Montmartre is full of crowded cafes,
shops and artist's stalls. It is also one of the oldest parts of Paris, some of
it was part of the old Roman town that once existed where Paris now is.
We were taken through another one of the oldest neighborhoods in Paris,
called St. Germain. The hotel where Oscar Wilde breathed his last is still there
and also still standing nearby is the house where one of the women who played a
role in the "affair of the necklace" lived. This was a sinister plot
by some courtiers just before the Revolution, which entangled Marie Antoinette
and helped bring about her downfall.
Our hotel was just a few minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower so we got to see
a lot of it too, in its daytime garb and its shimmering nighttime dress as well.
There is a restaurant and club inside it and some of our group were courageous
enough to go all the way to the observation deck at the top. We learned that the
Eiffel Tower was never meant to be permanent, and was hated by most people when
it first went up and was almost torn down. Apparently a lot of Parisians hate
the glass pyramid in front of the Louvre too.
And of course we went to Versailles, the royal palace of Louis the XVI and
Marie Antoinette. It belongs to the people of France now, and much of it is open
to the public. The acres of gardens and lawns are especially beautiful and the
incredibly sumptuous residential rooms and halls apparently look much as they
did in the 1780s. It was almost a trip back in time to be able to see the site
so well preserved.
The shopping in Paris is wonderful. If you love to shop, this is your city!
You can find everything from expensive famous designer items to cheap knock-offs
and everything conceivable in between, like chocolate, wine, books, art,
perfume, jewelry, and much more.
We also got to leave Paris for a day and travel to Normandy, on the coast.
Here we walked among the quiet, solemn rows and rows, so many rows, of white
crosses at the American cemetery at Omaha Beach. At a beautiful chapel there,
the inscription reminded us not just to mourn the dead, but to remember their
glorious spirit.
Near the beaches, in the city of Caen, is the Caen Peace Museum. Where the
hideous violence of World War II once drenched the land with blood, the Caen
Peace Museum now stands dedicated to European and world peace. The museum's main
permanent exhibit is a detailed audio/visual history of World War II and the
events leading up to it. I'll never be able to forget the haunting photographs
of a heartbreakingly young couple being casually strung up by a Nazi officer for
passing out leaflets, or some such "crime." The whole exhibit was
heartbreaking, really, some parts of it too awful to look at. Ism very glad the
museum was on our itinerary, but it was hard to take.
Thanks to the dedicated hard work of Norma Hackler of the Paralegal Division
of the State Bar of Texas and of Chris Relton, our wonderful ACIS Tour Manager,
we had a marvelous trip. And thanks to Janice Baneux of ACIS for her help as
well. And special thanks to the members and staff of the Paris Bar. We will
never forget the time they graciously shared with us. We were so lucky to have
everyone working together to make our trip so great.
Finally, just about everyone we met spoke at least some English and getting
around on the Metro was so convenient and cheap, we didn't even need to use
taxis. And you've probably heard that the French are "rude." I was
treated with respect and kindness in Paris and I've been treated rudely in
Dallas (I'm not picking on Dallas - just using a real-life example) and other
American cities, so I don't think they are any ruder than residents of any other
major city besieged by tourists all the time. If you ever get the chance to go
to Paris, don't you dare pass it up, even if it is for only a short visit. I
think you will be as captivated by her as we were.
Mary K. La Rue, C.P., is a full time paralegal at John M. Dickey &
Associates in El Paso, primarily in the area of civil defense, and a part-time
paralegal teacher at El Paso Community College. She is a member of the Paralegal
Division of the State Bar of Texas, of the El Paso Paralegal Association, the
National Association of Legal Assistants, and an Associate Member of the El Paso
County Bar Association. Comments, questions invited! mlarue@johnmdickey.com.
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