TITLE V: Powers of investigation.

The officers mentioned in article L. 450-1 may visit any premises and seize documents and any data media and, where applicable, the means of decrypting them, which may be held, accessible or available only in the context of investigations requested by the European Commission, the Minister for the Economy or the General Rapporteur of the Autorité de la Concurrence on a proposal from the Rapporteur, with judicial authorisation granted by order of the liberties and detention judge of the judicial court in whose jurisdiction the premises to be visited are located. They may also, under the same conditions, place seals on any business premises, documents and information media for the duration of the visit to these premises. Where these premises are located within the jurisdiction of several courts and simultaneous action is to be taken in each of them, a single order may be issued by one of the competent liberty and custody judges.

The judge checks that the application for authorisation submitted to him or her is well-founded; this application must include all the information in the applicant's possession likely to justify the visit. Where the purpose of the visit is to establish that infringements of the provisions of Book IV of this Code are being committed, the application for authorisation may include only such evidence as allows the existence of the practices in question to be presumed.

The visit and seizure are carried out under the authority and control of the judge who has authorised them. The judge appoints one or more heads of department with territorial jurisdiction, who appoint as many judicial police officers as there are places to be visited. The officers of the judicial police are responsible, each in his or her own area, for attending these operations, assisting with any necessary requisitions and keeping the judge informed of the progress of these operations. The judge who has authorised the inspection and seizure operations may, in order to exercise control over them, issue a letter rogatory to the liberty and custody judge in whose jurisdiction the inspection is taking place.

The judge may visit the premises during the operation. At any time, he may decide to suspend or halt the visit.

The order is notified orally and on the spot at the time of the visit to the occupier of the premises or his representative, who receives a full copy against receipt or signature in the minutes. The order shall state that the occupier of the premises or his representative may call upon counsel of his choice. Exercising this option does not suspend the inspection and seizure operations. In the absence of the occupier of the premises, the order is notified after the operations by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. The same applies if the inspection is not carried out on one of the premises referred to in the order. Notification is deemed to have been made on the date of receipt shown on the notice.

The order by which the liberty and custody judge rules on the request for authorisation referred to in the first paragraph may be appealed to the first president of the court of appeal within whose jurisdiction the judge authorised or refused the measure, in accordance with the rules laid down by the code of criminal procedure. The public prosecutor may lodge an appeal, as may the person against whom the measure was ordered. The Competition Authority or the Minister for the Economy may appeal against an order refusing authorisation. The appeal is lodged by declaration at the registry of the judicial court within ten days of notification of the order. It does not have suspensive effect. In the event of an appeal against an authorisation order, the Minister for the Economy or the Competition Authority, as the case may be, is a party to the proceedings. The parties to the proceedings before the First President of the Court of Appeal may lodge an appeal in cassation against the resulting order in accordance with the rules laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The documents seized are kept until a decision has become final.

The visit, which may not begin before six o'clock or after twenty-one o'clock, is carried out in the presence of the occupier of the premises or his representative. The occupier of the premises may appoint one or more representatives to attend the inspection and sign the minutes. If this is not possible, the judicial police officer will ask for two witnesses chosen from persons other than those under his authority, those under the authority of the administration of the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control or that of the Competition Authority.

Only the agents referred to in Article L. 450-1, the occupier of the premises or his representative, the judicial police officer and, where applicable, the agents and other persons authorised by the European Commission may inspect the documents before they are seized. The agents referred to in Article L. 450-1 may, during the visit, interview the occupier of the premises or his representative in order to obtain any information or explanations that may be useful for the purposes of the investigation. In accordance with article 28 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, article 61-1 of the same code is applicable when a person is heard in respect of whom there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that he has committed or attempted to commit an offence.

Inventories and sealing are carried out in accordance with article 56 of the code of criminal procedure.

The originals of the minutes and inventory are sent to the judge who ordered the visit. A copy of the report and inventory is given to the occupier of the premises or his representative. A copy is also sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt to the persons subsequently implicated by the items seized during the operation.

The items and documents seized are returned to the occupier of the premises within six months of the date on which the decision of the Competition Authority becomes final. The occupier of the premises is given formal notice, by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, to come and collect them within a period of two months. On expiry of this period, and in the absence of any action on the part of the occupier, the items and documents will be returned to the occupier, at the occupier's expense.

An appeal may be lodged with the First President of the Court of Appeal in whose jurisdiction the judge authorised the search and seizure operations, in accordance with the rules laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Public Prosecutor, the person against whom the order referred to in the first paragraph was made and the persons implicated by means of documents seized during these operations may lodge this appeal. The Minister for the Economy or the Competition Authority, as the case may be, is a party to these proceedings as defendant. This shall be formalised by a declaration at the registry of the judicial court within ten days of the delivery or receipt of the report and inventory, or, for persons who have not been the subject of a visit and seizure and who are implicated, from the date on which they were notified of the report and inventory and, at the latest, from the notification of grievances provided for in Article L. 463-2. The appeal does not have suspensive effect. The parties to the proceedings before the First President of the Court of Appeal may lodge an appeal in cassation against the resulting order in accordance with the rules set out in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The documents seized are kept until a decision has become final.