Law of 22 Prairial Year II

French history

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July 14, 2026

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The Law of 22 Prairial Year II was a decree passed during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution on June 10, 1794. This law significantly altered legal proceedings by suspending a suspect's right to a public trial and legal counsel. It left juries with only two options: acquittal or death. This measure led to the period known as the "Great Terror," during which approximately 1,400 people were executed in Paris. The law's implementation contributed to the eventual downfall of Maximilien Robespierre, a prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety, on July 27, 1794. The Reign of Terror itself, from September 1793 to July 1794, saw harsh measures against perceived enemies of the Revolution, with thousands arrested and executed.1

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France
The Jacobin dictatorship
…the Convention passed the infamous law of 22 Prairial, year II (June 10, 1794), to streamline revolutionary justice, denying the accused any effective right to self-defense and eliminating all sentences other than acquittal or death. Indictments by the public prosecutor, now virtually tantamount to a death sentence, multiplied rapidly.
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…the Convention passed the infamous law of 22 Prairial, year II (June 10, 1794), to streamline revolutionary justice, denying the accused any effective right to self-defense and eliminating all sentences other than acquittal or death. Indictments by the public prosecutor, now virtually tantamount to a death sentence, multiplied rapidly.
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Reign of Terror
…position, the committee obtained the Law of 22 Prairial, year II (June 10, 1794), which suspended a suspect’s right to public trial and to legal assistance and left the jury a choice only of acquittal or death. The “Great Terror” that followed, in which about 1,400 persons were executed, contributed…
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…position, the committee obtained the Law of 22 Prairial, year II (June 10, 1794), which suspended a suspect’s right to public trial and to legal assistance and left the jury a choice only of acquittal or death. The “Great Terror” that followed, in which about 1,400 persons were executed, contributed…
Read More