The lawyers requested clemency. The law required the appeal to be heard by the Head of State, Philippe Pétain. That procedure would have had to await the end of hostilities. Nogues, dean of the Imperial Council, proclaimed himself acting High Commissioner, under an unpublished order issued by Darlan on 2 December 1942. The order was invalid according to the legal order of Vichy. Nogues immediately rejected the clemency petition. Henri Giraud, who was then head of military justice as Commander-in-chief, refused to postpone execution, and ordered his execution the next morning at 7:30.