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Auxiliaire de justice, indépendant et mandaté par son client, l’avocat occupe une place singulière dans le système judiciaire français et sa parole se caractérise a priori par une grande liberté. A l’examen cependant, on constate que son espace de parole est soumis aux règles rituelles du procès qui tendent progressivement à le restreindre, et que le contenu de cette parole est contraint par les exigences de sa mission même s’il bénéficie d’une protection dont l’effectivité est une garantie fondamentale du procès équitable. Ainsi, si indéniablement l’avocat peut dans certaines situations, dire plus que le citoyen ordinaire, il doit surtout en toutes circonstances veiller à dire mieux que ce dernier.

As an independent auxiliary of justice, mandated by his client, the lawyer occupies a particular place in the French legal system and his speech is characterized a priori by a great freedom. A more careful scrutiny, however, shows that the lawyer's freedom of speech is subject to the ritual rules of the trial, which progressively tend to restrict it, and that the content of his words is framed by the requirements of his mission, even though he takes advantage of a safeguard whose efficiency is a fundamental guarantee of a fair trial. Thus, if the lawyer can indisputably in certain situations say more than the ordinary citizen, he must in all circumstances essentually try to speak better.