French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceDuring the investigation or when no court has been seised or when the court seised has exhausted its jurisdiction without having ruled on the restitution of items placed in the hands of justice, the public prosecutor or the public prosecutor is competent to decide, ex officio or on request, on the restitution of these items when ownership is not seriously contested.
There shall be no grounds for restitution where restitution is likely to create a danger to persons or property, where the property seized is the instrument or direct or indirect product of the offence or where a specific provision provides for the destruction of items placed in the hands of the law ; the decision of non-return taken on one of these grounds or on any other ground, even ex officio, by the public prosecutor or the public prosecutor may be referred by the interested party to the president of the investigating chamber or to the investigating chamber, within one month of its notification, by declaration to the registry of the court or tribunal or by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt; this appeal has suspensive effect.
If restitution has not been requested or decided within six months of the classification decision or the decision by which the last court seised has exhausted its jurisdiction, the objects not returned become the property of the State, subject to the rights of third parties (1). The same applies if the owner or the person to whom restitution has been granted does not claim the object within one month of a formal notice sent to their home address. Objects whose return is likely to create a danger to persons or property become the property of the State, subject to the rights of third parties, as soon as the decision not to return them can no longer be contested, or as soon as the decision not to return them has become final.
