Section II: Judicial police officers

Article 16

(Law nº 66-493 of July 9, 1966 art. 1 Official Journal of July 10, 1966) (Law n ° 72-1226 of December 29, 1972 art. 17 Official Journal of December 30, 1972) (Law nº 75-701 of August 6, 1975 art. 20 Official Journal of August 7, 1975) (Law n ° 78-788 of July 28, 1978 art. 2 Official Journal of July 29, 1978) (Law n ° 85-1196 of November 18, 1985 art. 1 and 8 Official Journal of November 19, 1985 in force on January 1, 1986) (Law nº 94-89 of February 1, 1994 art. 2 Official Journal of February 2, 1994 in force on February 2, 1994) (Law n ° 95-125 of February 8, 1995, art. 53 Official Journal of February 9, 1995) (Law nº 96-647 of July 22, 1996 art. 20 Official Journal of July 23, 1996) (Law nº 98-1035 of November 18, 1998 art. 1 Official Journal of November 19, 1998) (Law n ° 2003-239 of March 18, 2003 art. 8 III Official Journal of March 19, 2003) (Law n ° 2006-64 of January 23, 2006 art. 16 I Official Journal of January 24, 2006)   Have the quality of judicial police officer:
1º Mayors and their deputies;
2 ° The officers and officers of the gendarmerie, the gendarmes with at least three years of service in the gendarmerie, nominally appointed by decree of the ministers of justice and defense, after the assent of a commission;
3 ° Inspectors general, deputy directors of active police, controllers general, police commissioners and police officers;
4 ° Civil servants of the national police supervisory and enforcement body with at least three years of service in this body, nominally appointed by decree of the ministers of justice and of the interior, after the assent of a commission.
The composition of the commissions provided for in 2 ° and 4 ° will be determined by a decree in the Council of State taken on the report of the Minister of Justice and the ministers concerned.   Also have the quality of judicial police officer the persons exercising the functions of director or deputy director of the judicial police reporting to the Minister of
The officials mentioned in 2 ° to 4 ° above may not effectively exercise the powers attached to their quality of judicial police officer or avail themselves of this quality unless they are assigned to a job involving this exercise and by virtue of a decision of the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal empowering them personally. The exercise of these powers is temporarily suspended during the time when they participate, as a constituted unit, in a law enforcement operation. When they belong to a service whose competence exceeds the jurisdiction of the court of appeal, the enabling decision is taken by the public prosecutor at the court of appeal of the seat of their function.
However, the officials referred to in 4 ° may only receive the authorization provided for in the preceding paragraph if they are assigned either to a service or a category of services determined in application of article 15-1 and appearing on a fixed list. by decree of the ministers of justice and the interior, or, exclusively, in a formation of a service mentioned by the same decree.

The conditions for granting, withdrawing and suspending for a determined period of the authorization provided for in the preceding paragraph are set by decree in the Council of State taken on the report of the Minister of Justice and the ministers concerned.

Article 16-1

(inserted by Law nº 75-701 of August 6, 1975 art. 21 Official Journal of August 7, 1975 in force on January 1, 1976)
In the month following the notification of the decision to suspend or withdraw the authorization, the judicial police officer may ask the public prosecutor to revoke this decision. The Attorney General must rule within one month. Otherwise, his silence is deemed to be the rejection of the request.

Article 16-2

(inserted by Law nº 75-701 of August 6, 1975 art. 21 Official Journal of August 7, 1975 in force on January 1, 1976)
Within one month from the explicit or implicit rejection of the request provided for in the preceding article, the judicial police officer may appeal to a commission made up of three judges from the seat of the Court of Cassation having the right to appeal. rank of chamber president or councilor. These magistrates are appointed annually, along with three alternates, by the office of the Court of Cassation.
The functions of the public prosecutor are fulfilled by the general prosecutor’s office at the Court of Cassation.

Article 16-3

(inserted by Law nº 75-701 of August 6, 1975 art. 21 Official Journal of August 7, 1975 in force on January 1, 1976)The commission decides by a non-reasoned decision. The debates take place and the decision is rendered in the council chamber. The debate is oral; the applicant may be heard personally at his request or that of his counsel; he may be assisted by his counsel.
The procedure before the commission is fixed by a decree in the Council of State.

Article 17

Police officers exercise the powers defined in article 14; they receive complaints and denunciations; they carry out preliminary inquiries under the conditions provided for in Articles 75 to 78.
In the event of flagrant crimes and misdemeanors, they exercise the powers conferred on them by Articles 53 to 67.
They have the right to directly request the assistance of the public force for the execution of their mission.

Article 18

(Ordinance nº 58-1296 of December 23, 1958 art. 1 Official Journal of December 24, 1958 in force on March 2, 1959) (Ordinance nº 60-529 of June 4, 1960 art. 2 Official Journal of June 8, 1960)(Law n ° 72-1226 of December 29, 1972 art. 18 Official Journal of December 30, 1972)(Law n ° 75-285 of April 24, 1975 art. 2 Official Journal of April 25, 1975)(Law n ° 78-788 of July 28, 1978 art. 3 Official Journal of July 29, 1978)(Law n ° 85-1196 of November 18, 1985 art. 2 and 8 Official Journal of November 19, 1985 in force on January 1, 1986) (Law nº 94-89 of February 1, 1994 art. 3 Official Journal of February 2, 1994 in force on February 2, 1994)(Law n ° 95-125 of February 8, 1995, art. 54 Official Journal of February 9, 1995)(Law n ° 2003-239 of March 18, 2003 art. 8 II Official Journal of March 19, 2003)(Law n ° 2004-204 of March 9, 2004 art. 78 Official Journal of March 10, 2004)
Judicial police officers have jurisdiction within the territorial limits where they exercise their usual functions.
Judicial police officers, temporarily placed at the disposal of a service other than the one to which they are assigned, have the same territorial jurisdiction as that of the judicial police officers of the reception service.
In the event of a flagrant felony or misdemeanor, the judicial police officers may come within the jurisdiction of the high courts bordering the court or the courts to which they are attached, for the purpose of continuing their investigations and carrying out investigations. hearings, searches and seizures. For the application of this paragraph, the jurisdictions of the high courts located in the same department are considered as one and the same jurisdiction. The jurisdictions of the high courts of Paris, Nanterre, Bobigny and Créteil are considered as one and the same jurisdiction.
Judicial police officers may, on the express rogatory commission of the examining magistrate or on requisitions of the public prosecutor, taken during a preliminary investigation or a flagrant investigation, carry out the operations prescribed by these magistrates on any the extent of the national territory. They are required to be assisted by a territorially competent judicial police officer if the magistrate whose commission or requisition they hold so decides. The territorially competent public prosecutor is informed by the magistrate who ordered the operation.
With the agreement of the competent authorities of the state concerned, the judicial police officers may, on the express rogatory commission of the investigating judge or on requisitions of the public prosecutor, proceed to hearings on the territory of a foreign state. .
They may, on the proposal of the administrative authorities to which they depend and by empowerment of the Attorney General, receive jurisdiction within the same limits of territorial jurisdiction as those of the judicial police officers whom they are called upon to replace in case of need.
Judicial police officers or agents usually exercising their mission in vehicles assigned to collective passenger transport or in places intended for access to these means of transport are competent to operate within the scope of the defense zone of their service. assignment, under conditions determined by decree of the Council of State.

Article 19

Judicial police officers are required to inform the public prosecutor without delay of crimes, misdemeanors and contraventions of which they are aware. As soon as their operations are closed, they must send it directly the original as well as a certified copy of the minutes they have drawn up; all related acts and documents are sent to him at the same time; the seized objects are made available to him.
The minutes must state the quality of judicial police officer of their writer.

Article 19-1

(inserted by Law n ° 93-2 of January 4, 1993 art. 2 Official Journal of January 5, 1993 in force on March 1, 1993)   The rating by the Attorney General of the authorized judicial police officer is taken into account for any advancement decision.