FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Christophe Ingrain, Tristan Gautier and Benoît Martinez, Darrois Villey Maillot & Brochier
Darrois Villey Maillot & Brochier 69 Av. Victor Hugo 75116 Paris France
Tel: +33 1 45 02 19 19 Fax: +33 1 45 02 49 59 Email: cingrain@darrois.com Web: www.darrois.com
1. Criminal Law 1.1 Criminal Offences Categories of Criminal Offences
• The moral element concerns the offender’s intent (intention coupable ). Crimes are necessarily inten - tional offences. However, misdemeanours may take the form of offences of recklessness or negli - gence ( faute d’imprudence or faute de negligence ) where the law expressly provides for it, such as in involuntary manslaughter or accounting irregulari - ties (Article 121-3, CP). Attempted Offences Attempts are always punishable in the case of felo - nies, punishable for misdemeanours only where the law expressly provides for it, and never punishable for contraventions (Article 121-5, CP). An attempt is established when the offender has begun to carry out the offence, but its completion fails or is interrupted due to circumstances beyond their control – for exam - ple, an extortion attempt that fails because the victim resists the offender’s threats. 1.2 Burden of Proof In France, the presumption of innocence applies. Accordingly, the accused is not required to prove their innocence; the burden of proof lies with the prosecu - tion. Standard of Proof The prosecution must establish the offence and pro - duce evidence to this end. While French law does not use the common law terminology of “beyond reason - able doubt”, the principle in dubio pro reo applies: an accused person must be given the benefit of the doubt.
The French Criminal Code ( Code pénal – CP), distin - guishes between three categories of criminal offences: contraventions, misdemeanours ( délits ) and felonies ( crimes ) (Articles 111-1 and 111-2, CP). The classifica - tion depends on the seriousness of the offence and the severity of the applicable penalty: • Contraventions are the least serious offences (eg, regulatory breaches, minor traffic violations), and are punishable by fines up to EUR1,500 (or EUR3,000 in cases of repeat offence), as well as secondary penalties such as the suspension of certain rights. • Misdemeanours are mid-level offences (eg, fraud, corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, insider trading) punishable by up to ten years’ imprison - ment and/or a fine. Most white-collar crime cases fall into this category. • Felonies are the most serious offences (eg, murder, rape). They are punishable by at least 15 years’ imprisonment up to life imprisonment. Constituent Elements of a Criminal Offence For conduct to qualify as a criminal offence in France, both material and moral elements must be established in principle: • The material element refers to the prohibited act or omission as defined by law. In white-collar mat - ters, this can include concealing the origin of funds (money laundering) or granting an undue advan - tage (corruption).
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