Parquet (legal)

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The parquet is, in some countries, including France, the prosecution service. The parquet général is the prosecution service of a cour d'appel or the Cour de Cassation.

The word literally means "wooden floor"; this is because, as opposed to the judges, who sit on an elevated platform during trials, the prosecution pleads standing on the floor.

This also explains why the judges are sometimes referred to as "sitting magistrates" (magistrature assise) or "magistrates of the Seat" (magistrats du siège) while the prosecutors are sometimes referred to as "standing magistrates" (magistrature debout).

In Romania, the prosecution office is also called parchet (IPA: [par'ket]).

In Dutch, the parquet is translated as the parket.