High Court of Justice Haute Cour de justice (3W)

Copyright Holder: Archives nationales (France) The High Court of Justice was created by order of November 18, 1944 to judge persons who where a part of the goverment of Vichy from 1940-1944., The presidents of the High Court of Justice were successively: Paul Mongibeaux, Marcel Naegelen, who did not sit, Louis Noguères, Edouard Depreux, Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, Jacques Fourcade, Jean de Broglie, Andre Mignot and Jacques Lavigne. The High Court judged 106 cases against 108 indicted between 1944, - it sat for the first time on December 11 of that year -, then in 1949, and eight times between 1955 and 1960. Consists of speeches, sentences, witness lists, reports, trial proceedings, telegrams, correspondence, interrogations, and a sentence ledger documenting the High Court of Justice, which was specifically created by decree of the French Ministry of Justice of the Provisional Government of the French Republic on November 18, 1944 to try persons who were a part of the government of Vichy from June 1940 to August 1944. Tried persons included the Chief of State, the Prime Minister and his cabinet ministers, Resident Generals in the protectorates, Governor Generals, and High Commissioners. The original decree ("ordonnance") was modified by the laws of December 27, 1945, April 19, 1948, and March 3, 1954, and by the decree of January 2, 1959. There were 106 trials concerning 108 individuals between 1944 and 1949 and 8 between 1955 and 1960. The files vary in size from one thin folder to 9 boxes for Pierre Laval and 27 boxes for Maréchal Pétain. The collection includes also records of series W III, files missing from 3W.