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[[Image:Parlement-Paris-Charles7.jpg|thumb|250px|Lit de justice of king [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]] at [[parlement de Paris]], in 1450]]
In [[France]] under the [[Ancien Régime]], the '''lit de justice''' ({{IPA-fr|li də ʒystis}}, ''bed of justice'') was a particular formal session of the [[Parlement of Paris]], under the presidency of the king, for the compulsory registration of the royal edicts. It was named thus because the king would sit on a throne, under a [[baldachin]].<ref>Jean Rey, ''Histoire du drapeau, des couleurs et des insignes de la monarchie française'', Vol. 2, Paris 1837, p.40</ref>
A ''lit de justice'' in Paris was normally held in the ''Grand Chambre du Parlement'' of the royal palace on the [[Île de la Cité]], which remains the ''[[Palais de Justice, Paris|Palais de Justice]]'' even today. The king, fresh from his devotions in [[Sainte-Chapelle]], would enter, accompanied by his chancellor, the princes of the blood, dukes and peers, cardinals and marshals, and take his place upon the cushions on a dais under a canopy of estate (the ''lit'') in a corner of the chamber. Five cushions formed the ''lit'': the king sat on one, another formed a back, two more supported his arms and a cushion lay under his feet. Peers and prelates were ranged on benches at his right and left. Before the king a large space was kept empty, that the king might discuss matters privately. To preserve order, it was forbidden for anyone to leave his seat or approach the ''lit'' without being called.
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The ''lit de justice'', as it was revived in 1527, was intended by the royal party as an expression of royal justice, with hazy and immemorial antecedents in the open-air gathering of nobles presided over by enthroned [[Merovingian]] kings. In the King's presence the ''Parlement'' lost its usual quality of judge, to take the role of counsellor following the principle ''adveniente principe, cessat magistratus'' ("with the arrival of the king, magistratures cease"). As relations between Henri III and the Parlement of Paris became strained, the king used his presence in the ''lit de justice'' to enforce his will upon a recalcitrant court.
Absolutist propaganda asserted that a ''lit de justice'' in its origins could take place before any ''parlement'' though, in practice, the appearance of [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]] before the [[Parlement|parlement of Rouen]] to enforce the enregistration of his [[Edict of Amboise]] (1563) was an innovation intended to discount the legislative role of the Parlement of Paris.<ref>See Mack P. Holt, "The King in Parlement: The Problem of the Lit de Justice in Sixteenth-Century France" ''The Historical Journal'' '''31'''.3 (September 1988:507-523).</ref> He and the Queen Mother made a tour of parlements— Dijon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Toulouse— to enforce the registration of the Edict throughout France.<ref>Holt 1988:519</ref> From the reign of [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] it was confined to the ''Parlement de Paris''.
In his ''Memoirs'', the [[Duke of Saint-Simon|Duc de Saint-Simon]] describes in detail a ''lit de justice'' held during the Regency of the [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans|Duke of Orleans]] on August 26, 1718 at the [[Tuileries Palace]]. The ''lit ''was used to enact an edict respecting the French currency over ''Parlement's ''objection as well as stripping the [[Duke of Maine]] of his control over the child [[King Louis XV]]'s education and of the rank of [[prince du sang]].<ref>''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3875/3875-h/3875-h.htm The Memoirs of Louis XIV, His Court and the Regency]'' by the Duke of Saint-Simon</ref>
The last such session was in 1787, under [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]], at Versailles. The whole body, now ''"refractory, rolled out, in wheeled vehicles, to receive the order of the king."''
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