Although French law radically restricts cameras from entering the courtroom, documentarian Raymond Depardon was granted special permission to film for three months in the 10th District Courthouse of Paris. The resulting work is a powerful and unique glimpse inside the inner-workings of the French legal system, as well as a candid inquiry into universal issues of guilt, innocence, and punishment. "Spellbinding [...] revealing, compassionate and judicious, Depardon's is one of the best films from France--or any nation--this year" (Village Voice).