Palais de Justice de Paris

Palais de Justice de Paris stands on the Île de la Cité, where courtrooms and legal offices occupy part of the medieval Palais de la Cité. Its formal entrance opens through the Cour de Mai, beneath a gilded iron gateway from the nineteenth-century reconstruction.

The building houses the Court of Appeal of Paris and the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court for ordinary cases. Its history reaches back to a royal courtroom under King Robert II and later includes the Grand Chamber, the Parlement of Paris, and the Revolutionary Tribunal. The French Revolution transformed that chamber into a courtroom for rapid political trials. Damage from the Paris Commune in 1871 led to further rebuilding, while the Tribunal judiciaire de Paris moved to Batignolles in 2018 after the historic complex became too small.

Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie form part of the wider complex, linking royal worship with a former prison that operated from 1380 to 1914. Inside, a law library covers about 4,500 square metres, while the Conciergerie now preserves its prison history as a heritage site.