New Laws in France

In the welter of legal reforms pushed through by Charles de Gaulle when he took over France's destiny last year, two new laws set the press to trembling. One decreed imprisonment or fines for anyone publishing "by act, word or writing that which throws discredit on jurisdictional act or decision." The other authorized the same punishment for "whoever publishes before the intervention of the definitive jurisdictional decision comment tending to exercise pressures on the declarations of witnesses or on the decisions of judges."

What did the new laws mean? Seeking to find out, newsmen had their worst fears confirmed: no photographs of court witnesses could be published; cops, magistrates, lawyers, judges and witnesses were barred from giving any information to newsmen about cases under judgment. France's freewheeling press reacted explosively. Cried Liberation: "It has been a long time since anyone in France could talk about what is happening in Algeria. Now we will not be permitted to publish what is happening in France."

Last week Minister of Justice Edmond Michelet tried to quiet the outcry. "We had an ancient judicial system," he said soothingly. "It has been replaced by a system more modern and liberal." The French press was not so sure.

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