In Situ (Aug 2022)
La Cour de cassation. De l’exigence de préservation patrimoniale à l’expression d’une politique culturelle
Abstract
Heir to its establishment in the historic premises of the Parliament of Paris, the “Tribunal de Cassation” (1790), which became the Court of Cassation (1804), knew during the French Revolution, the Empire and the Bourbon Restoration only simple interior arrangements. The period of the July Monarchy, and even more so, that of the Second Empire, marked a first turning point in its history: the renewed demands of the magistrates finally led to the construction of a more functional courthouse. From 1862, the Court of Cassation benefited from an ambitious programme of construction and development of its premises. This programme is due both to the need to adapt a historic site to the special organisation of the high court, but also to the desire to enshrine in monumentality the philosophy of a new political and legal era. The fire of 1871 changed the perception of a courthouse almost completely destroyed. For all, the remains needed to be preserved and then renovated. The issue was no longer just functional or economic, it had become, in a few weeks, heritage and memorial. Moreover, the new reconstructed spaces, mainly under the French Third Republic, were quickly seen as a "new heritage" that one hoped would stand up, as long as possible, to the wear and tear of time, to disasters, and above all, to the impulsiveness of men as well as their carelessness. For more than a century, the Court of Cassation has carried out this mission of heritage preservation within a constrained administrative and budgetary framework. The emergence of new technologies over the past twenty years has now provided its leaders with tools to enhance the institutional, historical and cultural influence of a unique jurisdiction in France.
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