Chapter V: Issuance of Bulletin No. 2 of the Criminal Record

Articles in this section · 4

Article R79

French Code of Criminal ProcedureIn force

Updated 6 Nov 2023

Other than the cases provided for in 1°, 2° and 4° of Article 776, bulletin no. 2 of the criminal record is issued:

1° To the State public authorities responsible for policing foreign nationals;

2° To those responsible for the interests of veterans, victims of war and wards of the Nation;

3° To those responsible for reorganising the agricultural, commercial, industrial or craft professions;

4° To those responsible for awarding war damages and building loans;

5° To those responsible for admitting candidates to professional representation;

6° To those dealing with applications for authorisation to bring a foreign female employee into France;

7° To judges appointed to supervise the commercial register in connection with applications for registration in the special register of commercial agents;

8° To local public authorities, the SNCF, SNCF Réseau, and SNCF Voyageurs and the subsidiary mentioned in 5° of the article L. 2111-9 du code des transports, to Electricité de France and Gaz de France, to the Banque de France, referred to in connection with applications for employment, tenders for public works or public contracts or with a view to disciplinary proceedings;

9° To public authorities referred to in connection with applications for authorisation to import, export, develop, hold, transfer, use or transport nuclear materials defined in article 1 of the law of 25 July 1980;

9° bis To the public administrations of the State responsible for policing weapons and explosives;

10° To the councils of the order of doctors, dental surgeons, midwives and pharmacists dealing with applications for inclusion on the roll or disciplinary proceedings ;

11° To commissions for registration on the list of statutory auditors;

12° To Government commissioners attached to the councils of the order of chartered accountants and certified accountants in response to applications for registration or disciplinary proceedings;

13° To the tax authorities when issuing the certificates provided for in article 6 of decree no. 75-911 of 6 October 1975 relating to approved management centres ;

14° To State administrations, local authorities and their public establishments, as well as health, social and medico-social establishments mentioned in article 2 of law no. 86-33 of 9 January 1986 on statutory provisions relating to the hospital civil service, for the control of the exercise of jobs in their services involving habitual contact with minors;

15° To public administrations receiving applications for embarkation on a French ship and responsible for checking the conditions for practising the profession of seaman;

16° To public State administrations responsible for checking the declarations of private research agencies or issuing authorisation to carry out guarding, cash-in-transit surveillance or personal protection activities;

17° To the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons and the National Court for the Right of Asylum;

18° To the public administrations of the State responsible for investigating procedures for change of name, acquisition, loss or forfeiture of French nationality;

19° Repealed;

20° To the Autorité des marchés financiers, in respect of company directors when they apply for a visa for the admission of the company's financial securities to trading on a regulated market;

21° To the Commission des marchés à terme de marchandises in respect of natural persons or directors of legal entities applying for the approval or registration provided for by articles 31, 32 and 34 of the loi n° 83-610 du 8 juillet 1983, as well as persons who are the subject of disciplinary proceedings on the basis of articles 22, 29 or 41 of this law;

22° To the prison administration in respect of the authorisations, approvals or clearances that it is likely to issue to persons called upon to work in prison establishments or for the recruitment of its staff;

23° To juvenile court judges in connection with the investigation of authorisation procedures for natural persons, establishments, services or public or private organisations to which the judicial authority usually entrusts minors, as well as in connection with the supervision that juvenile court judges exercise over the same persons, establishments, services or organisations when they are authorised ;

24° To the Director General of the Institut national de la propriété industrielle for inclusion on the list of persons qualified in industrial property and on the list provided for in the'article L. 422-5 ;

25° To the Government Commissioner of the insurance intermediaries register body mentioned in article L. 512-1 of the Insurance Code.

Mariela Petrova

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Common Questions

Working with a corporate lawyer in France — Q&A

Any time a strategic decision changes how the company is owned, governed or contractually bound — incorporation, fundraising, M&A, restructuring, shareholder agreements, or major commercial contracts. Earlier engagement always costs less than later remediation.

A notary (notaire) is a public officer who authenticates specific deeds (mainly real-estate transfers and certain family-law acts). A corporate lawyer (avocat) advises on strategy, negotiates and drafts company documents, and represents you in disputes. The two roles complement rather than overlap.

Yes — most of our clients are foreign suppliers, investors or holding entities. We bridge the gap between French law and your home jurisdiction's expectations and deliver everything bilingually.

The SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée) is the default choice for most international structures: flexible governance, single shareholder allowed, no minimum capital, and works cleanly with foreign holding entities. We assess SARL, SA, SCI on the merits when the situation calls for it.

Yes — communications with a French avocat are protected by the secret professionnel (Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971). This protection is broader than the common-law attorney-client privilege and applies to written and oral exchanges.

We work on fixed fees for clearly scoped engagements (incorporation, contract drafting, audits) and on monthly retainers for ongoing advisory. Hourly billing is the exception, not the default. You always know the cost before work starts.

Typical timeline is 2–3 weeks from KYC kick-off to RCS registration, assuming standard documentation. Holding-company structures, foreign-shareholder identification or in-kind contributions can extend this — we flag the gating items at the first meeting.

Absolutely. We routinely coordinate with your in-house counsel, expert-comptable or notaire — pragmatic collaboration is the norm, not the exception. We send them everything they need to do their part without duplicating work.

Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

Avocate au Barreau de Paris

Toque #C2396

15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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Communications protected by professional secrecy — secret professionnel de l'avocat, Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971.

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