Revolutionary Tribunal

The Revolutionary Tribunal (French tribunal revolutionnaire ) was during the French Revolution, was established by the National Convention Court for trial of political offenders, and became one of the most powerful engines of the Reign of Terror.

The news of the failure of the French troops in Belgium caused on 9 and March 10, 1793 popular movements, and on March 10 the Convention decided on a proposal of Danton, that in Paris an extraordinary criminal court should be installed, by a decree on 20 October in 1793 the official name of the Revolutionary Tribunal received. It consisted of a jury, a prosecutor and two representatives, all appointed by the Convention; to its judgments no appeal was possible. With Martial Joseph Armand Herman as president and Antoine Quentin Fouquier- Tinville as a prosecutor terrorized the Tribunal royalists, recalcitrant priests and all actors in the counter-revolution. The tribunal convened in Paris' Palais de Justice.

Soon, it was also used for personal purposes, in particular by Robespierre, who used it for the condemnation of his opponents. The excesses of the Revolutionary Tribunal increased with Robespierre's supremacy in the Welfare Committee; on June 10, 1794 infamous law of 22 Glorious First it was announced at his instigation that forbade inmates to seek legal aid for their defense claim that suppressed the hearing of witnesses and the death made the only possible punishment. Before 22 Glorious First the Revolutionary Tribunal had imposed death sentences in 1220 13 months; in the 49 days between the introduction of the Act and the fall of Robespierre in 1376 people were sentenced.

The list of prisoners who were to be sent before the Tribunal, was made by a commission in the museum and co-signed by a revision by the Safety Committee and the Committee of Public Safety. Although Robespierre the chief expert of the tribunal was just a list of his signature has been handed down. The revolutionary tribunal was abolished on 31 May 1795. Among his most famous victims included Marie Antoinette, the Hébertists that Dantonists and several Girondins. Similar tribunals were also in the provinces.