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The acceleration of judicial proceedings is a phenomenon that affects Switzerland, Belgium and France. The question of “resources” is a recurrent theme in the discourse of all the professionals involved, both those at the coalface and those involved in the system further upstream. It is all about changing the model of the justice system to make it evermore efficient and less expensive. The French criminal trial is under threat. But shorter proceedings elude any comprehension of the criminal act and turn their back on “restorative” justice. We need to ask ourselves what the meaning of the hearing is, what type of justice we wish to render. The judge's work is never in vain, for the concern to do everything possible to arrive at the truth contributes to the restoration of the social bond.