Based on the material of archival documents put into circulation for the first time (primarily the judicial registers of the Paris Parliament), the book explores the problem of relationships, communication and direct contacts between the judiciary and citizens in France of the late Middle Ages (XIV-XV centuries). The features of the behavior and speech of the accused in the courtroom, their attitude to power and law, the attitude of judges to their own power, their understanding of the trial process and the institution of mandatory confession, as well as judicial ritual as one of the languages of medieval justice, as a way of communication between power and its subjects are considered. . Particular attention is paid to the construction of the court protocol, the specifics of its form, style and vocabulary. For historians, lawyers and a wide range of readers.