French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceA sale of the property concluded before publication of the decision to seize the property under criminal law and published after this publication at the mortgage registry or in the land register for the departments concerned cannot be set up against the State, unless the seizure is subsequently released. However, if it is not necessary to maintain the seizure of the property and the sale does not appear to be fraudulent in view of the terms and conditions and the price obtained, the competent judge may decide to postpone the seizure of the property on the sale price, after paying the creditors holding a security interest that ranked prior to the date on which the seizure became enforceable. In this case, publication of the decision and deposit of the balance of the sale price make the sale enforceable against the State.
Where the costs of conserving the seized property are disproportionate to its value in its current state, the liberty and custody judge, at the request of the public prosecutor, or the investigating judge, after obtaining the opinion of the public prosecutor, may authorise the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets to dispose of it in advance. This authorisation decision is the subject of a reasoned order. It is notified to the interested parties and to third parties with rights to the property, who may refer it to the investigating chamber under the conditions provided for in the last two paragraphs of Article 99.
The proceeds of the sale are deposited. In the event of dismissal, acquittal or where the penalty of confiscation is not imposed, these proceeds shall be returned to the owner of the property if he so requests, unless the proceeds result from the sale of property that was the instrument or product, directly or indirectly, of an offence.
