French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceI.-When three months have elapsed since the accused person was remanded in custody, when such custody is still in progress and the notice of the end of the investigation provided for by Article 175 has not been issued, the President of the Examining Magistrate's Court may, of his or her own motion or at the request of the Public Prosecutor or the person under investigation, decide to refer the case to this court for it to examine the proceedings as a whole. In the event of a request from the Public Prosecutor or a party, it shall give its ruling within eight days of receipt of the request. This decision is not subject to appeal.
The investigating chamber rules after a hearing at which the lawyers of all the parties and the assisted witnesses are summoned. The investigating chamber or its president may order the appearance of the persons under investigation and the assisted witnesses, of its own motion or at the request of the parties. If an accused person placed in pre-trial detention requests to appear, the president may only refuse his appearance by a reasoned decision. The appearance may be made in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 706-71.
If the person under investigation is an adult, the hearings take place and the judgment is handed down in open court. However, the public prosecutor, the person under investigation or the civil party or their lawyers may, before the opening of the hearings, object to this publicity if it is likely to hinder the specific investigations required by the investigation, to undermine the presumption of innocence or the serenity of the hearings or to harm the dignity of the person or the interests of a third party, or if the investigation relates to facts mentioned in articles 706-73 and 706-73-1. After hearing the observations of the Public Prosecutor and the parties, the Chamber rules on the objection in a judgment delivered in chambers, which may only be appealed to the Supreme Court at the same time as the judgment on the main claim. If the Chamber upholds this objection or if the accused is a minor, the hearing takes place and the judgment is delivered in chambers. The same applies if the civil party objects to publicity, in the only cases where the civil party is entitled to request that the judgment hearing be held in camera.
The president of the investigating chamber may also order ex officio, after having heard the observations of the public prosecutor and the parties, that the proceedings take place in chambers if publicity is likely to hinder the specific investigations required by the investigation or to harm the dignity of the person or the interests of a third party. The President of the Examining Magistrate's Chamber shall rule by an order made in chambers, which may only be appealed to the Supreme Court at the same time as the judgment given at the end of the hearings.
At least two working days before the date set for the hearing, the parties may file pleadings consisting either of requests for release or of requests for acts, including if the request was previously rejected pursuant to Article 186-1, or in applications to set aside, subject to the Articles 173-1 and 174, or in applications for a declaration that the public prosecution is time-barred.
II.-The Investigating Chamber, after having ruled on these applications where applicable, may:
1° Order the release, with or without judicial supervision, of one or more of the persons under investigation, even in the absence of an application to that effect;
2° Declare one or more acts null and void under the conditions provided for by Article 206;
3° To call for and proceed with under the conditions provided for by the articles 201,202,204 and 205 ;
4° Proceed with a partial evocation of the case file by carrying out only certain acts before returning the case file to the investigating judge ;
5° Return the case file to the investigating judge in order to continue the investigation, ordering him, where applicable, to carry out one or more acts other than those relating to pre-trial detention or judicial supervision, within a period that it shall determine;
6° Appoint one or more other investigating judges to monitor the proceedings with the investigating judge or judges already seised, in accordance with l'article 83-1 ;
7° Where this decision is essential for the truth to be ascertained and for the proper administration of justice and it is not possible to make the appointments provided for in 6°, relinquish jurisdiction of the investigating judge and appoint, for the purposes of continuing the proceedings, one or more investigating judges from the court of origin or from another court within the jurisdiction ;
8°Order the settlement, including partial settlement, of the proceedings, in particular by declaring one or more dismissals in respect of one or more persons.
The judgment of the Investigating Chamber must be delivered no later than three months after the matter is referred to it by the President, failing which the persons placed in detention are released.
Six months after the judgment has become final, if pre-trial detention is still in progress, and unless the notice of the end of the investigation provided for in article 175 has been issued, the president of the investigating chamber may again refer the matter to this court under the conditions provided for in this article.
