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Why do magistrates question witnesses in many civil-law countries instead of attorneys?

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illustration from Charles Dickens's Bleak House — Legal ethics Illustration by Hablot Knight Browne for Charles Dickens's *Bleak House*. Here Lady Dedlock is visited by her cunning old lawyer, who discovers her deepest secret and threatens to reveal it to her husband.

In civil-law countries, the practice of judges or magistrates questioning witnesses stems from the inquisitorial principle, a legal tradition rooted in medieval Roman-canonical proceedings. Unlike the adversary system used in common-law jurisdictions—where attorneys bear the primary responsibility for investigating and presenting evidence—the inquisitorial system assigns the judge an active role in the search for truth.12

By virtue of their office, judges in these systems are empowered to investigate facts, order the taking of evidence, and directly examine witnesses. This approach is designed to ensure that the court itself plays a central part in uncovering the facts of a case, rather than relying solely on the competing presentations of opposing counsel.13

Procedural specifics vary by country:
* In some systems, such as Germany, attorneys may question witnesses after the judge has conducted the initial interrogation.4
* In other systems, such as France, attorneys may only pose questions to witnesses through the president of the court.4
* In many European jurisdictions, counsel is often limited to suggesting questions for the judge to ask.5