Palais de Justice, Paris in the context of Conciergerie

The Île de la Cité (French: [il d(ə) la site]; lit. "Island of the City") is one of two natural islands on the Seine River (alongside Île Saint-Louis) in central Paris. It spans 22.5 hectares (56 acres) of land. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of the area governor for the Roman Empire. In 508, Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, established his palace on the island. In the 12th century, its importance as a religious centre increased with the building of Notre-Dame cathedral, and the castle chapel of Sainte-Chapelle. The city hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu, possibly the oldest continuously operating hospital in the world, is also based on the island. Nearby is the site of the city's oldest surviving bridge, the Pont Neuf.

Even with the departure of the French kings to the Louvre Palace across the right bank, and later to the Palace of Versailles, the island remained a centre of administration and law courts. In 1302, it hosted the first meeting of the Parlement of Paris in the old royal palace and was later the site of the trials of aristocrats during the French Revolution. Today, in addition to the prominent cathedral and other shrines, it is the home of the Préfecture de Police, the Palais de Justice, and the Tribunal de commerce de Paris. The Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation, a memorial to the 200,000 people deported from Vichy France to Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War, is located at the eastern end of the island. As of 2016, the island's population was 891.

The Republican Guard (French: Garde républicaine, [ɡaʁd ʁepyblikɛn]) is part of the French National Gendarmerie. It is responsible for special security duties in the Paris area and for providing guards of honour at official ceremonies of the French Republic.

Its missions include guarding important public buildings in Paris, such as the Élysée Palace (the residence of the President of the French Republic), the Hôtel Matignon (the residence of the Prime Minister of France), the Luxembourg Palace (the Senate), the Palais Bourbon (the National Assembly) and the Palais de Justice, as well as keeping public order in Paris. Ceremonial and security services for the highest national personalities and important foreign guests, military ceremonies and guards of honour for fallen soldiers, support of other law enforcement forces with intervention teams, as well as staffing horseback patrol stations (particularly for the forests of the Île-de-France region) are also part of its duties.

The Palais de la Cité (French pronunciation: [palɛ d(ə) la site]), located on the Seine River's Île de la Cité, is a major historic building in the centre of Paris, France. It was an occasional residence of the Kings of France from the early 6th to the 12th century and a permanent one from the late 12th to the 14th century, and has been the center of the French justice system ever since, for which it is also referred to as the Palais de Justice.

From the 14th century until the French Revolution, the Palais was the headquarters of the Parlement of Paris. During the Revolution it served as a courthouse and prison, where Marie Antoinette and other prisoners were held and tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Since the early 19th century, it has been the seat of the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris, the Court of Appeal of Paris, and the Court of Cassation. The first of these moved to another Parisian location in 2018, while the latter two jurisdictions remain located in the Palais de la Cité as of 2025.

The Place du Châtelet (French pronunciation: [plas dy ʃɑtlɛ]) is a public square in Paris, on the right bank of the river Seine, on the borderline between the 1st and 4th arrondissements. It lies at the north end of the Pont au Change, a bridge that connects the Île de la Cité, near the Palais de Justice and the Conciergerie, to the right bank. The closest métro station is Châtelet

French criminal law is "the set of legal rules that govern the State's response to offenses and offenders". It is one of the branches of the juridical system of the French Republic. The field of criminal law is defined as a sector of French law, and is a combination of public and private law, insofar as it punishes private behavior on behalf of society as a whole. Its function is to define, categorize, prevent, and punish criminal offenses committed by a person, whether a natural person (Personne physique) or a legal person (Personne morale). In this sense it is of a punitive nature, as opposed to civil law in France, which settles disputes between individuals, or administrative law which deals with issues between individuals and government.

Criminal offenses are divided into three categories, according to increasing severity: contraventions, délits, and crimes. The last two categories are determined by the legislature, while contraventions are the responsibility of the executive branch. This tripartite division is matched by the courts responsible for enforcing criminal law: the police tribunal for infractions; the Correctional court for délits; the cour d'assises for crimes. Criminal law is carried out within the rules of French criminal procedure which set the conditions under which police investigations, judicial inquiries and judgements are carried out.

Pont Saint-Michel (French pronunciation: [pɔ̃ sɛ̃ miʃɛl]) is a bridge linking the Place Saint-Michel on the left bank of the river Seine to the Île de la Cité. It was named after the nearby chapel of Saint-Michel. It is near Sainte Chapelle and the Palais de Justice. The present 62-metre-long bridge dates to 1857.