FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Christophe Ingrain, Tristan Gautier and Benoît Martinez, Darrois Villey Maillot & Brochier
ing factor. Under the Sapin II Law, companies that implement robust anti-corruption compliance systems may benefit from reduced penalties. 4.2 De Minimis There are no de minimis exceptions for white-collar offences in France worth mentioning. 4.3 Plea Agreements, Co-Operation, Self- Disclosure and Leniency French law provides for a specific mechanism allow - ing the resolution of certain corporate criminal inves - tigations without a trial: the CJIP, introduced by the Sapin II Law and codified in Article 41-1-2, CPP, which is exclusively available for legal entities. It does not entail an admission of guilt but requires the company’s acknowledgement of the facts. CJIPs are often contingent on the company’s proac - tive co-operation with investigators and prosecution, including self-reporting, comprehensive internal inves - tigations, and naming culpable individuals to reduce fines. According to the PNF’s guidelines for CJIPs, self- disclosure and active co-operation may be considered as mitigating factors reducing the amount of the fine. For detail on CJIPs, see 2.7 Deferred Prosecution . For individuals and legal entities, the prosecution can propose a guilty plea procedure, the CRPC, that must be validated by a judge (see 1.6 Sentencing and Pen- alties ). Co-operation and disclosure can influence the assessment of penalties. 4.4 Whistle-Blower Protection The framework for whistle-blower protection stems primarily from the Sapin II Law, dedicated to strength - ening transparency and fighting corruption. The law mandates that public and private legal entities with either more than 500 employees, or belonging to a group whose parent company meets that threshold, or having a consolidated turnover exceeding EUR100 million, implement internal reporting for suspected ille - gal activities or breaches. The reporting channel must guarantee strict confiden - tiality regarding the identity of the persons making the report, the persons concerned by the report and the
information collected by all recipients of the report. Whistle-blowers are encouraged to initially use inter - nal channels to report violations. If no action is taken or in the event of serious or imminent danger, they can escalate the issue to external authorities or disclose it publicly. In France, there are no direct financial incen - tives for whistle-blowers. Unauthorised disclosure of the reported information is punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of EUR30,000. Retaliation against a whistle-blower is prohibited: no person can be excluded from a recruit - ment process and no employee can be penalised, dis - missed, or subjected to any discriminatory measure for having raised a concern in compliance with Articles 6 to 8 of the Sapin II Law (Article L. 1132-3-3, CT). 4.5 Cross-Border Defence Strategies In France, white-collar investigations with a cross- border dimension – such as corruption, money laun - dering, or tax fraud – often involve co-operation with foreign authorities, in particular through mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs), EU judicial co-operation instruments, Eurojust, and Europol. Defence strate - gies must therefore address questions of jurisdiction, double jeopardy (non bis in idem), data transfer, and evidentiary admissibility. There are no formal co-ordinated defence mecha - nisms, but effective defence requires close collabora - tion among counsel in different jurisdictions to ensure a coherent strategy, particularly regarding privilege, disclosure, and self-reporting. The introduction of the CJIP has facilitated cross-bor - der coordination with foreign authorities, particularly between PNF, the US Department of Justice and the UK Serious Fraud Office. French prosecutors increas - ingly align settlements to avoid double penalties and promote co-ordinated global resolutions. 5. Key Trends and Future Outlook 5.1 The Year Ahead See the French Trends and Developments article.
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