In an unusual step the Conseil constitutionnel published a communiqué on 10 October 2000 concerning the criminal liability of the head of state. In it, the Conseil stated that "the criminal law position of the Head of State does not confer a 'criminal immunity', but a privilege of jurisdiction during his tenure of office". This statement contains the nub of the difficulty in understanding how French law treats the criminal law liability of the head of state and of ministers. Does the Constitution afford them immunity for their actions performed during their tenure of office, or does it merely make provision for a different court to try the offences?
Judicial Administration in Great Britain. Judicial organization and administration in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England are separate. They do, however, contain a large number of common elements : mainly the considerable increase in the number of litigations. The solution has been to extend the powers of the lower jurisdictions and to decentralize the activities of the higher jurisdictions : a limit on the verbal nature of debates, preliminary selection procedures to limit the number of appeals, etc. On the other hand, the procedures for recruiting magistrates (from among solicitors and barristers) makes it difficult to increase their numbers.