When SNCF was created, the Legal Affairs Department took over the activities of the joint Legal Affairs Department, created in 1933 at the time of the Grands Réseaux des Chemins de fer Français. It was responsible for studying the legal questions raised by the operation of the railway, acting on behalf of the Société nationale before all civil, administrative, criminal and social courts, and regularising all property transfers.
The Legal Affairs Department comprised three subdivisions: a Legal Secretariat, a Commercial Affairs and Accidents Subdivision, and a Civil, Administrative, Criminal and Tax Affairs Subdivision, all three organised into Offices.
The record series available to us were created by:
Contents
To view the contents online, enter the record series numbers in the search bar of the website of SNCF’s Service Archives Documentation:
The Legal Secretariat subdivision
These are records of railway case law from 1939 to 1945. They were first compiled by the joint Legal Affairs Department of the Grands Réseaux de Chemin de fer, then continued by the Legal Secretariat Subdivision. The case-law digests were intended to inform departments of rulings that set precedent, in order to avoid unnecessary and often costly appeals before the courts.
- 0375LM: 111 files
- 0412LM: 9 files
The General Affairs Office, from the Legal Secretariat subdivision
Its role was to provide opinions and carry out studies in response to questions from other legal sections or different SNCF Regions, to advise staff, and to follow proceedings before the Conseil d’Etat, the Conseils de Préfecture, arbitration tribunals, criminal courts or the Cour de cassation.
- 0388LM: 239 files
- 0390LM: 323 files
The Ordinary-Law Accidents Office, from the Commercial Affairs, Accidents, Criminal Affairs and Insurance subdivision
These are legal case files relating to railway accidents involving passengers or third parties, across all SNCF Regions. They contain accident reports, investigation records, correspondence from the Legal Affairs Department with the Regional Operations Departments, medical expert reports, supporting documents for medical expenses, pleadings by SNCF’s lawyer or one of its staff, copies of court judgments (civil, criminal, or Courts of Appeal), receipts for compensation paid to victims, notices of payment of the lawyer’s fees, and reports on the case made by the Legal Affairs Department to SNCF’s Director General.
0005LM*: 964 files
SNCF’s Centre national des Archives historiques holds a list summarising information on the locations, dates and victims of accidents. In addition, accident registers from 1933 to 1978 are available on CD-ROM (0518LM0002) and on window cards (0005LM0842). Given the nature of the information, this list is not freely disclosable. It is possible to contact the Archives Centre, specifying the date and location of the accident, or the victim’s name. The disclosure period applied to these files is 75 years. It is nonetheless possible to submit a request for an exemption.