French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceThe judicial police officers and, on their orders and under their responsibility, the judicial police officers and deputy judicial police officers mentioned in articles 20 and 21-1° may ask any person in respect of whom there are one or more plausible grounds for suspecting that :
-that he has committed or attempted to commit an offence;
-or that he is preparing to commit a crime or an offence;
-or that he is likely to provide information useful to the investigation in the event of a crime or an offence;
-or that he/she has violated the obligations or prohibitions to which he/she is subject as part of a judicial supervision, a house arrest measure with electronic surveillance, a sentence or a measure monitored by the sentence enforcement judge;
-or that he/she is the subject of a search ordered by a judicial authority.
On the written orders of the public prosecutor for the purposes of investigating and prosecuting offences that he or she specifies, the identity of any person may also be checked, using the same procedures, in places and for a period of time determined by that magistrate. The fact that the identity check reveals offences other than those referred to in the public prosecutor's requisitions does not constitute a ground for invalidity of the incidental proceedings.
The identity of any person, regardless of his or her behaviour, may also be checked, in accordance with the procedures provided for in the first paragraph, to prevent a breach of public order, in particular the safety of persons or property.
In an area between France's land border with the States party to the Schengen Convention signed on 19 June 1990 and a line drawn 20 kilometres below, as well as in areas accessible to the public in ports, airports and rail or road stations open to international traffic and designated by decree and in the vicinity of these stations, for the prevention and investigation of offences relating to cross-border crime, the identity of any person may also be checked, in accordance with the procedures set out in the first paragraph, in order to verify compliance with the obligations to hold, carry and present permits and documents laid down by law. When this check is carried out on board a train on an international route, it may be carried out on the portion of the journey between the border and the first stop beyond twenty kilometres from the border. However, on those railway lines providing an international service and having special service characteristics, checks may also be carried out between this stop and a stop located within the next fifty kilometres. These lines and stops are designated by ministerial order. When there is a motorway section starting in the area mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph and the first motorway toll is located beyond the 20 kilometre line, checks may also be carried out up to this first toll at the parking areas as well as at the location of this toll and the adjoining parking areas. The toll plazas affected by this provision are designated by decree. The fact that the identity check reveals an offence other than that of non-compliance with the aforementioned obligations does not constitute grounds for invalidity of the incidental proceedings. For the application of this paragraph, checks on the obligations to hold, wear and present the permits and documents provided for by law may only be carried out for a period not exceeding twelve consecutive hours in any one place and may not consist of a systematic check on persons present or moving around in the areas or places mentioned in the same paragraph.
Within a maximum radius of ten kilometres around ports and airports constituting border crossing points within the meaning of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code), designated by order on account of the extent of their frequentation and their vulnerability, the identity of any person may be checked, for the purposes of investigating and preventing offences relating to cross-border crime, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the first paragraph of this Article, with a view to verifying compliance with the obligations to hold, carry and present the permits and documents provided for by law. The order referred to in the first sentence of this paragraph sets the radius around the border crossing point within which checks may be carried out. Where there is a motorway section starting in the zone mentioned in the same first sentence and the first motorway toll is located beyond the limits of this zone, checks may also be carried out up to this first toll at the parking areas as well as at the location of this toll and the adjoining parking areas. The toll plazas affected by this provision are designated by order. The fact that the identity check reveals an offence other than that of non-compliance with the aforementioned obligations does not constitute grounds for invalidity of the incidental proceedings. For the application of this paragraph, checks on the obligations to hold, wear and present the permits and documents provided for by law may only be carried out for a period not exceeding twelve consecutive hours in any one place and may not consist of a systematic check of persons present or moving around in the areas mentioned in this paragraph.
In an area between the land borders or coastline of the Department of Guyana and a line drawn twenty kilometres below, and on a line drawn five kilometres either side, as well as on Route Nationale 2 in the territory of the commune of Régina, the identity of any person may be checked, in accordance with the procedures set out in the first paragraph, with a view to verifying compliance with the obligations to hold, carry and present the permits and documents provided for by law.
The identity of any person may also be checked, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the first paragraph of this article, with a view to verifying compliance with the obligations to hold, carry and present the permits and documents provided for by law :
1° In Guadeloupe, in an area between the coastline and a line drawn one kilometre below it, as well as in the territory of the communes through which national roads 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11 pass;
2° In Mayotte throughout the territory;
3° In Saint-Martin, in an area between the coastline and a line drawn one kilometre below;
4° In Saint-Barthélemy, in an area between the coastline and a line drawn one kilometre below;
5° In Martinique, in an area between the coastline and a line drawn one kilometre within it, as well as in an area of one kilometre on either side of route nationale 1 which passes through the communes of Sainte-Marie, La Trinité, Le Robert and Le Lamentin, route nationale 2 which passes through the communes of Saint-Pierre, Le Carbet, Le Morne-Rouge, l'Ajoupa-Bouillon and Basse-Pointe, route nationale 3 which passes through the communes of Le Morne-Rouge, l'Ajoupa-Bouillon, Basse-Pointe, Fonds-Saint-Denis and Fort-de-France; Route Nationale 5, which passes through Le Lamentin, Ducos, Rivière-Salée, Sainte-Luce, Rivière-Pilote and Le Marin; Route Nationale 6, which passes through Ducos, Le Lamentin, Le Robert, Le François and Le Vauclin, Rivière-Salée, Sainte-Luce, Rivière-Pilote and Le Marin and the departmental road 1 which crosses the communes of Le Robert, Le François and Le Vauclin.
