French:
Glossary:
Mail:
The Justice System
Imagine life as a criminal in the 18th century. Both judicial proceedings and the punishment were very different from today. Based on judicial records from the 18th century, it appeared that people of Louisbourg went to court more often than the average citizen today. The majority of citizens were illiterate but many of them appeared in court and their views and beliefs have been preserved in the legal proceedings. Thus, these documents provide some extraordinary material for investigation.
Law, Order and Street Life
Punishment
At the time of Île Royale, responsibility for the administration of all French lay with the Minister of Marine. The most important figures in the colony were the governor, who was the king's representative in Louisbourg, and the commissaire-ordonnateur, who was the equivalent of a financial administrator.
In 1717, the Superior Council (Conseil Supérieur) was the first court established in Louisbourg. Until 1734, it functioned as the only civil and criminal court for the colony. The first location of the Superior Council was in the home of the ordonnateur. In 1726 the Council moved to the King's Bastion Barracks.
As the population of Louisbourg grew, another court was essential to handle the civil and criminal case workload. The Bailliage was established in 1734 as a lower court, leaving the Superior Council to function as the high court of the colony or court of appeal. The lower court took charge of matters such as registering wills and conducting inventories after death. Sessions were usually located in the house of the presiding judge who was Joseph Lartigue from 1734 to 1743. Other members of the Bailliage court included a prosecutor, clerk, and usher.
The Superior Council was comprised of the Governor-General, and Intendant of New France(but never attended), Commissaire-Ordonnateur, Governor, king's lieutenant, four councilors, prosecutor, clerk, and usher. The councilors who were appointed to the Superior Council were among the most influential administrators and wealthiest merchants in Louisbourg. They were selected on the basis of recommendations by the governor and ordonnateur, on the King's behalf.
The Admiralty Court (Amirauté) was established in 1717 under the authority of the Admiral of France. This court, handled infractions of laws and regulations concerning trade, fishing, and navigation. It managed cases regarding shipping, wrecks, and the marine police. For instance, this court registered the number of ships built and sold in the colony, checked declarations and undeclared merchandise that the ships carried, checked whether vessels were French or foreign, issued permits and ordinances, and registered contracts and passports. Court sessions were held in the judge's residence whose title was lieutenant-général. Louis Levasseur was the presiding judge of this court during the mid 1740s. Other officials of the court consisted of a prosecutor, clerk and usher.
The rules and regulations governing military officers were administered by the senior officer of the garrison. Serious military crimes warranted a hearing held before a formal court martial known as Conseil de Guerre. Members of the Conseil de Guerre included the Governor, Commissaire-Ordonnateur, King's lieutenant, and four judges selected from senior officers of the garrison. The prosecutor was the town major, who in the 1740s, was Jean-François Eurry de la Pérelle. The Conseil de Guerre did not convene on a regular basis but only when a serious crime took place such as desertion. Soldiers found guilty of a serious crime by this court were executed, banished from the colony or pardoned. Soldiers might have been pardoned only if there were a number of soldiers involved in the same offense such as desertion by a group of individuals. Some offenders might be pardoned while others would be executed to set an example for potential lawbreakers. Routine military infractions were handled without any court. Soldiers were simply punished in those cases. Depending on the number of offenses and the degree of severity, a soldier found guilty of some minor infraction might receive a light punishment.
In all, the judicial system may have been an effective method for deterring crime. Moral values and beliefs were preserved through strict sanctions against offenders.