France was ruled in 18 ^th century by an absolute Monarchy: it means all powers ( including the judicial power) were united in the hands of the King, who held them by a decree of the Divine Providence: it therefore could not be discussed, disputed or contested.

Of course, the king could not rule alone a country of 30 million inhabitants: so, for instance in the judicial field, he delegated his power to Parliaments ( which were not Parliaments according to our present day meaning, but Courts of Justice), the big one in Paris, and several others in different regions).

So there were, in French law, two kinds of Justice, the Justice Dlgue( Justice delegated to the Parliaments), and the Justice Retenue ( Withheld Justice) : the latter term meaning the King could in many circumstances decide not to delegate his judicial power to the Parliament, but to exercise it himself directly.

The usual legal tool for this Withheld Justice was the Lettre de Cachet. It was a sealed letter, signed by the King, giving an order, mainly to jail someone. The letter was the sentence and its order of execution, and the royal sentence, being final, needed no motives nor explanation.

They were of two sorts : les Lettres de Grand Cachet, and les Lettres de Petit Cachet.

-Les lettres de Grand Cachet : These were decisions of the King himself, by his own will. It concerned mostly political issues, as in the case of Voltaire and Diderot, who were jailed in La Bastille. It could also concern some lesser characters, when the king thought a public trial by the Parliament could be a nuisance to himself or his relatives, or favorites, or cause a scandal in the Court. They were also a mean of avoiding to have a case judged by the Parliaments, which were often in conflict with the King, and could sentence differently than the King would have wanted them to. (Latude was a typical example of this use of the Sovereign's Sealed Letters).

-les Lettres de Petit Cachet: By far, the most frequent use of the Lettres de Cachet, they were signed by the King at the request of individuals: they could not concern crimes, but only lesser offences.

They were most of the time requested for private affairs, by Nobles or Rich plaintiffs, who intended to protect their family name from a public scandal.

5 categories of offences could lead to a Lettre de Petit Cachet:

-Madness or Irresponsible behavior

-Excess of Youth

-Libertinism

-Unbalanced Marriage( mostly between nobles and the people)

-more serious offences.

The consequences were:

-Unlimited detention in case of madness or insanity

-One or two years in jail in case of libertinism or debauchery,etc

- More important sentences for violent offences, or offences who would have dishonored the Families if a Court had judged them.

To ask for a Lettre de petit Cachet, the process was as followed: A family or individual would file a request at the Bureau des Placets, opened daily in Paris. In case of a public scandal, the request may be filed by the local priest , or bishop, or Landlord. Then an investigation is led by the Police, checking two main points: are the facts mentioned in the request real and true? Can the applicant, family or individual, pay for the expenses of the jail?( when one asked for a Lettre de petit cachet, one had to pay for the prison expenses for all the duration of detention). In case of a Lettre de Grand Cachet, the Royal Treasure paid for the State Prisoners expenses.

( for instance, Latude had the status of a prisoner of State, having been jailed by a Lettre de Grand Cachet, and all expenses were paid by the Royal Treasure. On the other hand, examples of prisoners by Lettres de Petit Cachet were the Comte de Mirabeau, jailed in Jura because he was about to ruin himself and his family with debts and libertinism, and Marquis de Sade well, in this case, you know whytheir families paid for the prison costs).

Even if it was statistically marginal, this practice of Lettres de Cachet was immensely unpopular by the end of 18 ^th century: The Philosophers had compared the Law in England and France on this matter, and claimed for the adoption of the British HABEAS CORPUS in French Law ; the King never accepted to abdicate this power of his. This showed two conceptions of Sovereignty and Law ,too far apart to compromise, and announced the revolutionary clash.

( the illustration on top of this footnote is a "Lettre de cachet" signed by Louis XV)