About the Judge in the WASTED LIFE Scene
How come he is the one who accuses Charriere? Is that how it's done in France?
God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)
HijodelCid , I don't know whether this question is still bothering you, but I'll answer anyway.
France has an inquisitorial legal system, as opposed to the adversarial system that's common in countries who inherited their legal system from the U.K. (the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand..)
Under an adversarial system, the prosecution offers evidence for the accused's guilt, while the defence offers evidence for the accused's innocence: the judge (and jury) weigh the evidence provided by the prosecution and the defence to reach a verdict.
In contrast, under inquisitorial systems, the 'prosecution' and the 'defence' are seen merely as people whom the judge believes to be well acquainted with the two sides of the case, and it is the judge who asks the questions and steers the inquiry in an attempt to reach the truth. The 'prosecution' and 'defence' are present only to answer the judge's questions. (I believe the inquisitorial system had it's roots in the Inquisition of the Catholic Church, filtered through the Napoleonic Code.)
Hopefully this explains why the judge accuses Papillon: the judge's job is to present the accusation and find the truth.
In the 1930s, France had an inquisitorial system for crimes. Over the last few decades, I've heard that France has started using juries in some cases, but I couldn't tell you the details. (I have not studied law in any jurisdiction, so you'll have to take this post with a grain of salt.)