The Law of 22 Prairial: Introduction

In: Telos, Heft 141, S. 82-91

Abstract

Describes the French Law of 22 Prairial that was adopted by the National Convention on 10 June 1794. Maximilien Robespierre, president of the National Convention & dominant figure of the Committee of Public Safety (CPS), encouraged French citizens to "purify the earth that (the tyrants) have soiled." The law of 22 prairial radically reformed the revolutionary tribunal by denying the accused right to legal counsel; allowing the prosecution to present "moral" proofs of guilt in the absence of (or in addition to) material evidence; & accelerating the judicial process. It is noted that the new law initiated the period known as the "Great Terror" in which 1,400 people were sentenced to death within the space of seven weeks. Possible motives for the CPS to turn the tribunal into a killing machine & to depart so radically from more enlightened norms of judicial processes are considered. Particular attention is given to the natural right theory upon which the legal process of the 22 prairial law is based. J. Lindroth