This book presents a unique and intriguing collection of drawings of courtroom scenes. Entering the courtroom wearing his robe Judge Pierre Cavellat literally had a secret up his sleeve. Hidden in it were pens and pencils, which he used to sketch the scenes he observed from his bench during a trial. Throughout a 40 year judicial career in one of France's more important regional appellate courts, Cavellat produced hundreds of revealing drawings and paintings of court scenes, depicting the proceedings as well as the main actors: the prosecutors, defence counsel, his fellow judges, the defendants, witnesses, policemen, the general public, as well as the courtroom itself and its architecture. The resulting vivid and uncensored impressions give an unprecedented insight into how a judge perceives his profession and the institution of justice as a whole. Given the scarcity of written autobiographies by judges as well as their reticence to expose their inner feelings and thinking, the images r