Restorative panels

What replaces the jury

Trials are conducted by professional judges under Article 79(5). Lay participation enters the system somewhere else: through the restorative procedures of Article 80(3) and Article 227, through the Judicial Council under Article 208, and through the deliberative bodies drawn by lot elsewhere in the text. A panel of residents therefore agrees repair, and decides guilt in no case.

Who sits

Residents of the commune concerned, drawn by lot, trained for the function, with an independent facilitator who is party to nothing. Service counts as contribution under Article 70(2), and the protections of Article 210(5) apply to anyone drawn.

Both sides can walk away

Participation is voluntary for the injured person and for the responsible person alike. Article 227(2) provides that a refusal aggravates no penalty, affects provision under Article 62 in no way, and counts against neither of them.

What a panel may agree

Reparation, restoration, labour for the injured person or for the community, apology, and measures preventing repetition. The floor is hard: Article 227(3) forbids a panel to impose deprivation of liberty, a reduction of provision, or any measure touching a right of Title III.

Approval and publication

Agreements are recorded and go to a judge, who verifies that they were entered voluntarily and that they conform to the Constitution. Approved agreements are published in anonymised form, which puts the going rate for repair on the public record and makes an outlier visible.

The case ends there

Where a restorative procedure resolves a matter, the court records it and closes the case, and Article 227(6) bars a later prosecution for the same act. Repair is a disposal, and any other reading would make participation a trap.