FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Thierry Marembert, Cécile Labarbe, Aaron Bass and Céline Serpagli, Kiejman & Marembert
is interesting to note that the judges disregarded the obligation imposed on them by the Criminal Code to make precise judicial findings regarding the commis - sion of the principal offence. The absence of a pri - mary offence was glaringly obvious but was ignored” (§ 320). This solution has since been used in several money laundering cases, including in the high-profile trial of the Vice-President of a Western African country, or in cases where the laundered proceeds came from embezzlement of public funds from foreign countries such as Brazil, Russia or China. In its recent judgment against former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Paris High Court acquitted several defendants of the charges of embezzlement of Libyan public funds on the grounds that the crime of embezzlement of public funds of foreign states does not exist under French law, while sentencing the same defendants for money laundering of embezzlement of Libyan public funds. 4.3 De Minimis Exceptions De minimis exceptions for the above offences do not exist under French law. However, French criminal pro - cedure relies on the principle of discretionary prosecu - tion. With some exceptions, prosecutors are free to choose whether or not to investigate, and, once inves - tigations are completed, to prosecute (either by refer - ring the case to a criminal court or by entering into a guilty plea), to enter into DPAs (for legal persons only), to enter into non-prosecution agreements ( composi- tions pénales , which is however only possible when the purported crime is punishable by a maximum of five years’ imprisonment), or to close the case. As such, the amount at stake is a factor that affects the prosecutors’ decisions. 4.4 Exempt Sectors/Industries As mentioned above, influence-peddling to obtain favourable decisions from individuals belonging to the private sector is not a crime, as opposed to bribery in the private sector, which has been a crime under French law for decades. 4.5 Safe Harbour or Amnesty Programme French law provides that prison terms for perpetra - tors or accomplices of bribery and influence-peddling shall be reduced by half when they have informed
the authorities in due time, and have contributed to halting the offence and/or identifying its perpetrator or accomplices. In 2025, this threshold was raised to two-thirds for international bribery and influence- peddling.
5. Penalties for Violations 5.1 Penalties on Conviction
Bribery and influence-peddling committed by or involving a person entrusted with a public service mis - sion are punishable by ten years’ imprisonment and a EUR1 million fine, which may be increased to EUR2 million or twice the proceeds of the offence in the case of an organised gang (432-11 FCC, 433-1 FCC). When bribery and influence-peddling are committed through private individuals, the offences are punish - able by five years’ imprisonment and a EUR500,000 fine, which may be increased to twice the proceeds of the offence (433-2 FCC). Bribery committed by or involving international pub - lic administration is punishable by the same penal - ties as those applicable to national public officials, namely ten years’ imprisonment and a EUR1 million fine, which may be increased to EUR2 million or twice the proceeds when committed by an organised gang (435-1 FCC). Similarly bribery committed by or involving foreign magistrates or arbitrators is punishable by ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of EUR1 million, which may be increased to twice the proceeds of the offence (435-7 FCC, 435-9 FCC). Regarding active influence-peddling involving inter - national public administration, sanctions are lower as they are punishable by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of EUR500,000, which may be doubled depend - ing on the proceeds of the offence (435-10 FCC). It must be noted that prison sentences shall be reduced by half if, having notified the administrative or judicial authority, the perpetrator has enabled the offence to be stopped or the other perpetrators or accomplices to be identified.
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