Causes Celebres - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition causes-celebres

Definition :

Causes celebres, a work containing reports of the decisions of interest and importance in French Courts in the 17th and 18th centuries. The first series, in 22 vols., is by Gayot de Pitival; the second, called the Nouvelles Causes Celebres, in 15, by Des Essarts. Compare Howell's State Trials in England. The word is applied to any English case of great interest and importance, as the Tichborne case (see Tichborne Case), Queen Caroline's case, etc.