A Colonial Trial in the Metropole? On the Form “Trial” and its Consequences in Colonial Situations

This article is based on a study of an important trial during the French colonization period, which was held in 1902 in the criminal court of Montpellier against the rebels of the Algerian village of Margueritte. The objective of this article is, therefore, to question the effects of the trial form in situations in which the State is inclined to adopt authoritarian or exceptional practices. The trial of the Margueritte rebels does not correspond to the model of political trial usually analyzed by Cause Lawyering. However, it has destabilized the colonial power precisely because the respect of the forms and procedures of the “normal” trial has made visible and audible the reality of colonial repressive practices and, therefore, has become a source for contesting French colonization in general.