Code Henry

This complaint, after having been communicated to the king's prosecutor, shall be answered by the seneschal with an order that it shall be investigated by the investigating judge whom he shall designate.

No one shall be recognized as a civil party, if, by the complaint or by a subsequent act, he has not formally declared it, or if he has not claimed damages and interest against the accused party.

At any stage of the proceedings, before judgment, complainants may constitute themselves civil parties; and within twenty-four hours after having constituted themselves, they may withdraw; they shall only be liable, in that case, for costs incurred up to the moment of notification of their withdrawal, without prejudice, however, to damages and interest of the accused, if applicable.

In no case, after the judgment, may the withdrawal of the civil party be accepted, even if the twenty-four-hour period after the declaration of constituting a civil party has not expired.

Any civil party not domiciled in the city where the seneschal court sits shall be required to elect a domicile there, by act filed at the clerk's office.

In default of election of domicile by the civil party, it may not argue the lack of service against acts that should have been served upon it.

All costs of the proceedings shall be advanced by the civil party, against whom an executory order may be issued.

Costs in criminal matters shall be assessed as they are in civil matters, and shall be liquidated by the judgment, if there is a civil party.

Except in the case of flagrant offense, and those assimilated thereto, the investigating judge is required to communicate the proceedings to the king's prosecutor, for the purpose of requesting what he deems appropriate, before issuing a warrant of arrest or order of bodily seizure.

The king's prosecutor may not keep the proceedings for more than twenty-four hours.

If the investigating judge proceeds to the scene of the offense, he shall be accompanied by the clerk of the seneschal court and escorted by the maréchaussée.

If the suspect has been arrested and transferred to the ban du roi, the investigating judge shall proceed to his interrogation within twenty-four hours of the delivery to him of the official reports, acts, and effects referred to in article 104.

If the suspect, outside the case of a flagrant offense, has been arrested on an order of the investigating judge, he shall be interrogated within twenty-four hours of his entry into the ban du roi of the city where the seneschal court sits.

If the suspect has not been arrested, the investigating judge shall issue against him a warrant to bring or a warrant of arrest, according to the circumstances and gravity of the crime, after hearing the witnesses and upon the king's prosecutor's conclusions.

In the case that the suspect is in flight, proceedings shall be taken against him, as shall be explained hereafter in Title III, Chapter One, on default proceedings.

The judge in charge of the investigation shall proceed wherever he is required to go, and even ex officio, to search for, and seize papers, effects, and generally all objects that may serve, either as written evidence, whether incriminating or exculpatory, or as exhibits for conviction.

Nevertheless, if the papers or effects to be searched for are outside the parish where the seneschal court sits, the investigating judge shall give commission to the judge of the place where they may be found, to carry out the operation prescribed by the preceding article, who shall draw up an official report thereof, which he shall send sealed and closed to the investigating judge, together with the papers and effects found as a result of said searches.

Witnesses shall be produced either by the public prosecution or by the civil party.

Any person identified by the complaint, denunciation, or official reports, as having knowledge of the crime or offense, or of its circumstances, shall be summoned at the request of the king's prosecutor, through the ministry of a bailiff, to appear before the investigating judge to testify truthfully.

The persons designated in article 41 above may not be compelled to testify, except in cases ordered by law.

Witnesses, before being heard, shall present the citation that was given to them, and mention thereof shall be made in the official report of the hearing, under penalty of nullity.

The investigating judge, assisted by the clerk only, shall receive secretly and separately the deposition of each witness.

The deposition shall be signed by the judge, the clerk, and the witness, after it has been read to him and he has declared that he stands by it.

If the witness cannot sign or will not sign, mention shall be made thereof.