French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceThe public prosecutor carries out or arranges for the carrying out of all acts necessary for the investigation and prosecution of offences against criminal law.
To this end, he directs the activities of the officers and agents of the judicial police within the jurisdiction of his court.
When investigative acts are to be carried out in a jurisdiction other than that of the tribunal de grande instance, he may ask the public prosecutor with territorial jurisdiction to carry them out or to have them carried out by a judicial police officer. However, he may also directly request any judicial police officer throughout the national territory to carry out these acts.
The public prosecutor supervises police custody. He shall visit police custody facilities whenever he deems it necessary and at least once a year; for this purpose he shall keep a register listing the number and frequency of inspections carried out in these various facilities. He sends the Public Prosecutor a report on police custody measures and the state of police custody facilities within his jurisdiction; this report is forwarded to the Keeper of the Seals. The Keeper of the Seals gives an account of all the information gathered in this way in an annual report that is made public.
He has all the powers and prerogatives attached to the status of judicial police officer provided for by Section II of Chapter I of Title I of this Book, as well as by special laws.
He may travel anywhere in France. It may also, in the context of a request for mutual assistance addressed to a foreign State and with the agreement of the competent authorities of the State concerned, travel to the territory of a foreign State for the purpose of conducting hearings.
In the event of flagrant offences, he shall exercise the powers conferred on him by Article 68.
The Public Prosecutor may also request, depending on the case, a person authorised under the conditions set out in the sixth paragraph of article 81, the prison integration and probation service or the judicial youth protection service to verify the material, family and social situation of a person under investigation, to verify the material feasibility of certain sentences or sentence adjustments that may be imposed and to inform the Public Prosecutor of measures to promote the social integration of the person concerned. These requisitions may also be made after a person has been referred to the criminal court by the investigating judge, when the person is in pre-trial detention.
These steps must be prescribed before any requisition for remand in custody when the sentence incurred does not exceed five years' imprisonment and in the event of prosecution under the immediate appearance procedure provided for in articles 395 to 397-6 or when the person is referred to the public prosecutor pursuant to article 393 and in the event of prosecution under the procedure of appearance on prior recognition of guilt provided for in articles 495-7 to 495-13.
With the exception of the offences set out in articles 19 and 27 of Order no. 45-2658 of 2 November 1945 relating to the conditions of entry and residence of foreign nationals in France, in the event of prosecution for an offence likely to result in a deportation order being issued against him or her, a foreign national who declares, before any referral to the competent court, that he or she is in one of the situations provided for by the articles 131-30-1 or 131-30-2 of the Penal Code, the public prosecutor may not issue any order for deportation from French territory unless he has first requested, as appropriate, the competent judicial police officer, a person authorised under the conditions set out in the sixth paragraph of Article 81 or, if this is materially impossible, the prison integration and probation service, in order to verify the validity of this declaration.
The public prosecutor may also call upon a victim support association approved by the Minister of Justice under conditions defined by decree, in order to help the victim of the offence.
