French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceSearches of the premises of a press company, an audiovisual communication company, an online public communication company, a press agency, the professional vehicles of these companies or agencies or the home of a journalist when the investigations are related to his or her professional activity may only be carried out by a magistrate.
These searches are carried out on the basis of a written, reasoned decision by the magistrate indicating the nature of the offence or offences being investigated, the reasons justifying the search and the purpose of the search. The content of this decision is brought to the attention of the person present at the start of the search pursuant to Article 57.
Only the magistrate and the person present pursuant to article 57 have the right to examine the documents or objects discovered during the search prior to their possible seizure. No seizure may involve documents or objects relating to offences other than those mentioned in this decision.
These provisions shall be null and void.
The judge carrying out the search must ensure that the investigations carried out respect the free exercise of the profession of journalist, do not infringe the confidentiality of sources in violation of article 2 of the law of 29 July 1881 on the freedom of the press and do not constitute an obstacle or cause an unjustified delay to the dissemination of information.
The person present at the time of the search pursuant to Article 57 of this Code may object to the seizure of a document or any object if he or she considers that such seizure would be irregular in terms of the previous paragraph. The document or object must then be sealed. These operations are recorded in a report mentioning the person's objections, which is not attached to the case file. If other documents or objects have been seized during the search and no objections have been raised, this report shall be separate from that provided for in article 57. This report and the document or object placed under seal shall be forwarded without delay to the liberty and custody judge, together with the original or a copy of the case file.
Within five days of receiving these documents, the liberty and custody judge shall rule on the challenge by means of a reasoned order that is not subject to appeal.
To this end, the judge hears the magistrate who carried out the search and, where applicable, the public prosecutor, as well as the person in whose presence the search was carried out. He may open the seal in the presence of these persons. If the journalist whose home was searched was not present when the search was carried out, in particular if the second paragraph of Article 57 was applied, the journalist may appear before the liberty and custody judge to be heard by that judge and, if it takes place, attend the opening of the seal.
If the liberty and custody judge considers that there are no grounds for seizing the document or object, he or she shall order its immediate return, the destruction of the record of the operations and, where applicable, the deletion of any reference to the document, its contents or the object in the record of the proceedings.
If this is not the case, the judge will order that the seal and the report be added to the case file. This decision does not preclude the parties from subsequently requesting that the seizure be declared null and void before the trial court or the investigating chamber, as the case may be.
