L’Ordre des avocats au Conseil d’État et à la Cour de cassation et la question patrimoniale : de la disparition d’un patrimoine historique à la mise en valeur d’un patrimoine reconstitué

Abstract

The history of the Order of lawyers at both the Conseil d’Etat (highest administrative court) and Cour de Cassation (highest court of appeal) is intertwined with that of the two Supreme Courts, of which it has been the independent and exclusive bar for more than two centuries. As Judicial Officers, the lawyers at the Conseils are required to stay in close proximity to these courts, and therefore their Order has its head office at the heart of the Cour de cassation, within the courthouse of Paris. Heir to the “Compagnie des avocats”, the Lawyers Company at the Councils of the King, the Order had a rich historical heritage, which completely disappeared in the fire of the Palace by Paris Commune in 1871. The tragic events during this period in our history, followed by the definitive establishment of the Republic in which a number of famous lawyers at the Conseils took part, have sparked a memory awareness, creating a heritage awareness. From that, a powerful effort for reconstituting and preserving its heritage was initiated by the Order, and was crowned more recently by a promoting policy, whose culmination is, in collaboration with the Cour de Cassation’s Library and the National Library of France, the systematic digitization of archives for further dissemination.

Keywords

• promotion
• lawyers at the Conseil d’État and the Cour de Cassation
• lawyers at the Councils of the King
• Judicial Officer
• historical heritage
• disappearance