CHAPTER III PROCEEDINGS Section I - The Appearance of the Accused ART 393: The president shall verify the identity of the defendant and make known the act for which the court is sitting. He/she shall also, where applicable, verify the presence or absence of the person liable under civil law, the party claiming damages, witnesses, experts and interpreters. ART 394: The defendant may ask to be assisted by an interpreter ; the president may appoint, of his/her own motion, an interpreter aged at least twenty-one and have him/her take an oath to perform his/her mission faithfully. The public prosecutor, the defendant and the party claiming damages may object to th e interpreter, giving reasons for this objection. The court shall rule on this objection and its decision shall be final. The provisions of Articles 330 and 331 shall apply. ART 395: On the day set for appearance at the hearing, the defendant under arrest shall be taken to court by law enforcement. ART 396: The defendant regularly summoned or served notice to appear in person must appear, unless he/she provides an excuse considered valid by the court before which he/she has been called. ART 402: If a defendant is unable, due to his/her health, to appear before the court, and if there are major reasons not to postpone trying the case, the court shall order, through a special and reasoned decision, that the accused eventually assisted by his/her counsel, will be heard at his/her domicile or the remand prison where he/she is held, by a magistrate appointed for this purpose, accompanied by a court registrar. A report shall be drafted on this examination. The defendant shall be considered to have tried after a full hearing. ART 403: A defendant appearing shall have the right to be assisted by a counsel. Assistance by a counsel shall be compulsory when the defendant suffers from a disability that can compromise his/her defence. Section II - Initiating Proceedings to Claim Damages and its Effects ART 404: Whoever wishes to initiate proceedings to claim damages shall do so either before the hearing, at the court registry during the hearing, through a declaration recorded by the court registrar or by submission of legal arguments ART 405: When proceedings to claim damages are initiated before the hearing, the application for damages must clearly state the offence prosecuted and contain the election of domicile in the jurisdiction of the court to which the case has been referred, unless the party claiming damages is domiciled therein. The court registrar shall immediately forward it to the public prosecutor, who summons the party claiming damages for the hearing. ART 406: At the hearing, the application for damages must, under pain of inadmissibility, be filed before the submissions of the public prosecutor on the merits. ART 407: Whoever initiates proceedings to claim damages may no longer be heard as a witness. 62