Section 11: Settlement orders

If the examining magistrate considers that the facts constitute a misdemeanour, and that the person under investigation acknowledges the facts and accepts the criminal classification chosen, he may, at the request or with the agreement of the public prosecutor or the person under investigation, issue an order referring the case to the public prosecutor for the purposes of an appearance on prior recognition of guilt in accordance with Section 8 of Chapter I of Title II of Book II. Where a civil party has been constituted, this order may only be made after the latter has been given the opportunity to make its observations or, in the case of a complaint with civil party constitution, with its agreement.

The person's pre-trial detention, house arrest under electronic surveillance or judicial supervision shall end unless the third paragraph of Article 179 is applied.

The committal order states that if the appearance procedure on prior recognition of guilt fails or if, within three months or, where detention has been maintained, within one month of such detention, no homologation decision has been reached, the committal order lapses, except for the possibility for the public prosecutor, within a period of fifteen days, to summon the accused to appear before the criminal court. If the accused has been kept in custody, the fourth and fifth paragraphs of the same article 179 are applicable.

The public prosecutor may, while implementing the procedure for appearance on prior acknowledgement of guilt, summon the accused before the criminal court; this summons lapses if a homologation order is made before the expiry of the period of three months or one month mentioned in the third paragraph of this article.

The request or agreement of the Public Prosecutor and the parties provided for in the first paragraph, which must be in writing or mentioned in the minutes, may be obtained during the information or on the occasion of the settlement procedure provided for in Article 175; if these requests or agreements have been collected in the course of the information, this Article may be implemented without it being necessary to apply the same Article 175.

Where the proposal comes from the public prosecutor, the parties have ten days from notification of this proposal to indicate, by fax, declaration at the court registry or registered letter, whether they agree to the referral of the case for the purpose of implementing an appearance on prior acknowledgement of guilt. In the event of agreement, the provisions of Article 175 shall not apply and, by way of derogation from the provisions of Article 184, the committal order shall only mention, in addition to the elements provided for in the second and third paragraphs of this Article, the identity of the person and the qualification chosen, without the need to state the reasons.