The chain of a huissier in the French Senate. Note also the peculiar "broken collar".

The French word huissier comes from huis, that is, a door. The word huissier thus designates two professions that originally had to do with opening and closing doors. The Senate (in French : le Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. ...

In France, Luxembourg and Belgium, a huissier de justice (and in the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking parts of Belgium gerechtsdeurwaarder) is a member of the legal profession whose responsibility includes formally bearing witness to events or situations(constat d'huissier); signification ¹, a form of service of process; making the decisions of the courts available to the public; and execution of the courts' decisions, such as seizures and evictions. The most common English translation for huissier de justice is bailiff (and sometimes sheriff officer); note however that French huissiers de justice are not government employees. Jump to: navigation, search Service of process is the term given to legal notice of a court or administrative bodys exercise of its jurisdiction over individuals who are the subject of proceedings or actions brought before such court, body or other tribunal. ... A court is an official, public forum which a public power establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... Search and seizure is a legal tool of US law whereby police who suspect that a crime has been committed may do a search of the property. ... Eviction is a legal process by which a landlord forces a tenant to move out of the landlords property involuntarily and usually permanently. ... A Bailiff in a United States courtroom Bailiff (from Late Latin bajulivus, adjectival form of bajulus) is a governor or custodian; cf. ...

In French government ministries and Parliament, a huissier, which can be translated as usher, is an employee whose role is provide general service to the minister or assembly (transmitting messages, ensuring that doors are closed or open appropriately, handling ballot boxes…). Traditionally, they wear a chain around the neck, since their original function is to lock and unlock doors. Usher may refer to: A attendant or escort, such as one who shows patrons to their seats in a theatre, church, wedding, or other formal affair. ... A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually cuboid, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper in an election but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period. ...

External links

• Huissiers de Justice
• National Association of Belgian Sheriff Officers
• Koninklijke Beroepsorganisatie van Gerechtsdeurwaarders
• Note 1: (pdf) Handbook of the Hague Service Convention — explains the difference between signification and notification in legal systems based on the Napoleonic Code