French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceWhen, in the course of the investigation, it proves impossible to return seized movable property whose retention is no longer necessary to establish the truth, either because the owner cannot be identified, or because the owner does not claim the item within one month of a formal notice sent to his or her home, the public prosecutor may, subject to the rights of third parties, authorise the destruction of this property or its delivery to the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets for disposal.
The Public Prosecutor may also authorise the handover to the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets, with a view to disposal, of seized movable property whose retention in kind is no longer necessary to establish the truth and whose confiscation is provided for by law, where continued seizure would be likely to diminish the value of the property. If the property is sold, the proceeds are deposited. If the case is dismissed, the case is not pursued or the accused is acquitted, or if the penalty of confiscation is not imposed, these proceeds are returned to the owner of the objects if he or she so requests.
Where continued seizure would be likely to diminish the value of the property, the public prosecutor may also order, subject to the rights of third parties, that it be handed over to the agency for the management and recovery of seized and confiscated assets, with a view to its allocation free of charge by the administrative authority and after its value has been estimated, to the judicial services or to police services, gendarmerie units, the French Biodiversity Office or services placed under the authority of the Minister for the Budget that carry out judicial police missions, movable property placed in the hands of the law, the retention of which is no longer necessary to establish the truth and the confiscation of which is provided for by law. In the event of the case being dropped, dismissed, discharged or acquitted, or where the penalty of confiscation is not pronounced, the owner who so requests obtains the return of the property, accompanied, where appropriate, by compensation for the loss of value that may have resulted from the use of the property.
During the course of the investigation or when no court has been seised or when the court seised has exhausted its jurisdiction without having ruled on the fate of the seals, the public prosecutor may order the destruction of seized movable property whose retention is no longer necessary for the determination of the truth, if it concerns objects qualified by law as dangerous or harmful, or whose possession is unlawful.
The decisions taken pursuant to the first four paragraphs shall state the reasons on which they are based. They are notified by any means to the persons with rights to the property, if known, and to the persons implicated. These persons may challenge these decisions before the Investigating Chamber in order to request, where appropriate, the return of the seized property. This appeal must be made within five days of notification of the decision, by declaration to the court registry or to the authority that made the notification; in the event of oral notification of a decision to destroy narcotics taken pursuant to the fourth paragraph, the time limit for lodging an appeal is twenty-four hours. These time limits and the exercise of the right of appeal are suspensive.
A decree in the Council of State shall determine the terms of application of this article.
