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The purpose of the reform requiring a statement of the reasons for assize court verdicts is twofold: to provide an understanding of the reasons for decisions and guarantee their consistency. On the former point, the law does not provide for this reasoning to be read out at the hearing. This is a shortcoming that limits its usefulness and should be corrected. On the second point, the Court of Cassation has proven to be a surprise: it is conducting a concrete examination of verdicts and rejecting any insufficient or contradictory reasoning. The key issue at stake in this law is to provide a guarantee against “divinatory”, purely subjective convictions lacking sufficient evidence.