BOOK IV
SOME SPECIFIC PROCEEDINGS

TITLE X
INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL CO-OPERATION

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION I
TRANSFERT AND EXECUTION OF REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE

Article 694
In the absence of any international conventions stipulating otherwise:
1° Requests for mutual assistance coming from French judicial authorities and addressed to foreign judicial authorities are sent through the intermediary of the Minister of Justice. The enforcement documents are sent to the authorities of the requesting State through the same channels.
2° Requests for judicial assistance coming from foreign judicial authorities are sent through diplomatic channels.
The enforcement documents are sent to the authorities of the requesting State through the same channels.
In urgent cases, requests for mutual assistance sought by the French or foreign authorities may be directly sent to the authorities of the State who are competent to enforce them. The transmission of the enforcement documents to the authorities of the requested State is carried out in the same way and under the same conditions. However, unless there is an international convention stipulating otherwise, requests for judicial assistance coming from foreign judicial authorities and addressed to the French judicial authorities must be the subject of an opinion sent through diplomatic channels by the foreign government concerned.

Article 694-1
In urgent cases, requests for judicial assistance coming from foreign judicial authorities are sent, according to the distinctions set out in article 694-2, to the district prosecutor or the investigating judge of the territorially competent district court. They may also be sent to these judges through the intermediary of the prosecutor general.
If the district prosecutor receives a request for judicial assistance directly from a foreign authority which may only be executed by the investigating judge, he sends it to the latter to be carried out, or seises the prosecutor general in the case provided for by article 694-4.
Before executing a request for judicial assistance of which he has directly be seised, the investigating judge immediately sends this to the district prosecutor for his opinion.

Article 694-2
Requests for judicial assistance coming from foreign judicial authorities are executed by the district prosecutor or by judicial police officers or agents nominated for this purpose by this prosecutor.
They are executed by the investigating judge or judicial police officers acting in the context of a rogatory letter where they require particular procedural acts which may not be ordered or executed in the course of a preparatory investigation.

Article 694-3
Requests for judicial assistance coming from foreign judicial authorities are executed according to the procedural rules provided for by the present Code.
However, if the request for judicial assistance specifies this, it is executed in accordance with the procedural rules indicated by the competent authorities of the requesting State, on the condition, under penalty of nullity, that these rules do not reduce the rights of the parties or the procedural guarantees provided for by the present Code. Where the request for judicial assistance may not be executed in accordance with the stipulations of the requesting State, the competent French authorities immediately inform the authorities of the requesting State and indicate under which conditions the request may be executed. The competent French authorities and those of the requesting State may agree on the outcome of this request later on, where appropriate by subjecting it to the aforesaid conditions.
The irregularity of the sending of the request for judicial assistance may not constitute grounds for nullity of the acts executed in enforcing this request.

Article 694-4
If the enforcement of a request for judicial assistance coming from a foreign judicial authority is liable to threaten public order or the fundamental interests of the nation, the district prosecutor seised of this request in accordance with the third paragraph of article 694-1 sends this to the prosecutor general who decides, if appropriate, to seise the Minister of Justice and gives, where applicable, notice of this reference to the investigating judge.
If he is seised, the Minister of Justice informs the authority which made the request, if appropriate, that no action, total or partial, may be taken in relation to the request. This information is communicated to the judicial authority concerned and blocks the enforcement of the request for judicial assistance or the return of the enforcement documents.

SECTION II
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN TYPES OF REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE

Article 694-5
The provisions of article 706-71 are applicable for the simultaneous enforcement, on French national territory and on foreign territory, of requests for judicial assistance coming from foreign judicial authorities or acts of judicial assistance executed at the request of the French judicial authorities.
Any interrogations, hearings or confrontations executed abroad at the request of the French judicial authorities are executed in accordance with the provisions of the present Code, unless an international convention prevents this.
An interrogation or confrontation of a person being prosecuted may only be executed with his consent.
The provisions of articles 434-13 and 434-15-1 of the Criminal Code are applicable to witnesses heard on French national territory at the request of the foreign judicial authorities of the State requesting this, under the conditions provided for by the present article.

Article 694-6
Where the surveillance provided for by article 706-80 must be executed in a foreign State, it is authorised by the district prosecutor in charge of the inquiry, under the conditions provided for by international conventions.
The official reports of the enforcement of the surveillance operations or reports pertaining to this and also the authorisation for carrying out the enforcement of this on foreign territory are attached to the case file.

Article 694-7
With the prior consent of the Minister for Justice seised of a request for judicial assistance to this end, foreign police officers may carry out infiltration operations in accordance with the provisions of articles 706-81 to 706-87 on French national territory, under the supervision of French judicial police officers. The consent of the Minister for Justice may be subject to conditions. The operation must next be authorised by the district prosecutor of the district court of Paris or the investigating judge of the same jurisdiction, under the conditions provided for by article 706-81.
The Minister for Justice may only give his consent if the foreign officers belong to a specialist division in their country and carry out police missions similar to those executed by the specially trained French national agents mentioned in article 706-81.

Article 694-8
With the consent of the foreign judicial authorities, the foreign police officers mentioned in the second paragraph of article 694-7 may also, under the conditions provided for by articles 706-81 to 706-87 and under the supervision of French judicial police officers, participate in any infiltration operations carried out in French national territory in the context of a national legal proceedings.

Article 694-9
Where, in accordance with the stipulations provided for by international convention, the district prosecutor or the investigating judge inform the foreign judicial authorities of information resulting from criminal proceedings in progress, he may impose such conditions on its use as he sees fit.

BOOK IV
SOME SPECIFIC PROCEEDINGS

TITLE X
INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL CO-OPERATION

CHAPTER V
EXTRADITION

SECTION I
CONDITIONS OF EXTRADITION

Article 696-1
No surrender to a foreign government may be made of any person who is not the object of a prosecution or a conviction for an offence provided for by the present section.

Article 692-2
The French government may hand over any person who does not have French nationality and who is the subject of a prosecution initiated in the name of the requesting state or of a conviction imposed by its courts, to foreign governments, at their request, where this person is found on French national territory.
However, extradition is only granted if the offence for which the application has been made was committed:
- either on the territory of the requesting state by a national of this state or by a foreigner;
-or outside the territory of the requesting state by a national from that state;
-or outside the territory of the requesting state by a foreigner, where the offence features among those for which French law authorises prosecution in France, even if they are committed by a foreigner abroad.

Article 696-3
The offences which may result in extradition, whether this is the application for or the granting of extradition, are the following:
1° all offences punished as felonies by the law of the requesting state;
2° offences punished as misdemeanours by the law of the requesting state, where the maximum prison sentence incurred, under that law, is two years or more, or, in the case of a convicted person, where the sentence imposed by the court of the requesting state is at least two years' imprisonment.
In no case is extradition granted by the French government if the offence does not incur a punishment for felony or misdemeanour under French law.
Facts constituting attempt or complicity are subject to the above rules, on condition that they are punishable under laws of both the requesting and the requested state.
If the application concerns a number of offences committed by the requested person and these have not yet been tried, extradition is only granted if the maximum sentence incurred under the law of the requesting state, for all of the offences together, is not less than two years' imprisonment.

Article 696-4
Extradition is not granted:
1° where the requested person is of French nationality, as determined at the date of the offence for which the extradition is requested;
2° where the felony or misdemeanour has a political flavour, or where the circumstances reveal that the extradition is requested for political reasons;
3° where the felonies or misdemeanours were committed on French national territory;
4° where the felonies and misdemeanours, while they were committed outside French national territory, were prosecuted and finally disposed of in France;
5° where, under the law of the requesting state or French law, the limitation period for the prosecution has expired prior to the request for extradition, or the limitation period for the penalty has expired prior to the requested person's arrest, and in general whenever the right to prosecute in the requesting state is extinguished;
6° where the offence for which the extradition has been requested is punished by the law of the requesting state which imposes a penalty or a safety measure contrary to French public policy;
7° where the requested person would be tried in the requesting state by a court which does not provide fundamental procedural guarantees and protection for the rights of the defence;
8° where the felony or misdemeanour constitutes a military offence under Book III of the Military Justice Code.

Article 696-5
If, for one single offence, extradition is requested concurrently by several states, preference is given to the application by the state against whose interests the offence was directed, or on whose the territory it was committed.
If the concurrent applications concern different offences, in order to determine priority account is taken of all the circumstances and, in particular, the relative seriousness the offences and the place of their commission, as well as the respective dates of the applications and any undertaking which the requesting state may have made to re-extradite the person concerned.

Article 696-6
Subject to the exceptions provided for by article 696-34, extradition is only granted on condition that the extradited person will neither be prosecuted nor convicted for an offence other than the one for which the extradition was requested, this being committed prior to the surrender.

Article 696-7
Where a requested person is being prosecuted or has been convicted in France, and the French government is requested to extradite him for another offence, surrender is only carried out after the prosecution is over and, in the case of a conviction, after the sentence has been executed.
However, this provision does not prevent the requested person from being temporarily sent to appear before the courts of the requesting state, on the express condition that he will be sent back as soon as the foreign courts have ruled.
The provisions of the present article also apply where the requested person is subject to imprisonment in default under the provisions of Title VI of Book V of the present Code.

SECTION II
EXTRADITION PROCEDURE UNDER THE RULES GENERALLY APPLICABLE

Articles 696-8
Subject to the provisions of paragraph four, any application for extradition is sent to the French government through diplomatic channels and accompanied either by a decision recording a conviction (even by default) or by an act of criminal procedure unconditionally ordering or having the effect or unconditionally ordering the requested person to appear before the criminal court, or an arrest warrant or any other act having the same force and issued by the judicial authorities, provided that such acts contain a precise description of the offence for which they have been issued and the date of this offence.
The originals or certified copies of the documents mentioned above must be produced.
At the same time, the applicant government must provide a copy of the legal texts applicable to the subject-matter of the accusation. It may also attach a summary of the facts alleged.
Where it is made by a member state of the European Union, the application for extradition is directly sent by the competent authorities of that state to the Minister of Justice, who proceeds in accordance with article 696-9.

Article 696-9
An application for extradition is, after the documents have been checked, sent with the case file by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Minister of Justice who, after ensuring the legality of the application, sends it to the territorially competent prosecutor general. The latter sends it to the territorially competent district prosecutor to be executed.

Article 696-10
Any person apprehended following an extradition application must be transferred to the territorially competent district prosecutor within twenty-four hours. During this period, he enjoys all the rights guaranteed by articles 63-1 to 63-5.
After confirming the identity of the person, the judge informs him in a language he understands that he is the subject of an extradition application, and that he will appear before the territorially competent prosecutor general within seven days of his appearance before the district prosecutor.
The district prosecutor also informs him that he may be assisted by an advocate of his choice, or, failing this, by an advocate appointed ex officio by the bâtonnier of the bar. The advocate is immediately informed, using any available means. The person is also advised that he may have an interview with the designated advocate immediately.
A note of this notification is made in the official record, under penalty of nullity. The record is immediately sent to the prosecutor general.
The district prosecutor orders the incarceration of the requested person, unless he feels that his appearance at all the stages of the proceedings is sufficiently guaranteed.

Article 696-11
Where his incarceration has been ordered, the requested person is transferred, if necessary, and entered on the extradition prison register at the remand prison for the appeal court in whose jurisdiction he has been apprehended.
This transfer must take place within a period of four days from the person's appearance before the district prosecutor.

Article 696-12
The documents produced to support an extradition application are sent by the district prosecutor to the prosecutor general. Within the seven-day time period mentioned in the second paragraph of article 696-10, the prosecutor general notifies the requested person, in a language he understands, of the ground on which the arrest has been made, and informs him of his right to consent to or to oppose his extradition, and the legal consequences of consenting to extradition.
Where the requested person has already requested the assistance of an advocate, and the latter has duly been summoned, the prosecutor general receives the statements of the person and his counsel, of which an official record is drafted.
If not, the judge reminds the requested person of his right to choose an advocate or to request that one be appointed for him ex officio. The chosen advocate, or where one has been appointed ex officio, the bâtonnier of the bar, is immediately informed of this choice by any available means. The advocate may immediately consult the case file and freely communicate with the requested person. The prosecutor general receives the statements of the person concerned and of counsel, of which an official record is drafted.

Article 696-13
Where the requested person has declared to the prosecutor general that he consents to his extradition, the investigating chamber is immediately seised of the case. The requested person appears before it within five working days from the date of his presentation before the prosecutor general.
At the appearance of the requested person, the investigating chamber confirms his identity and receives his statements. This is recorded in the official record.
The hearing is public, unless this would interfere with the orderly conduct of the proceedings taking place, the interests of a third party or human dignity. If this is so, the investigating chamber, at the request of the public prosecutor, the requested person or of its own motion, rules by means of a decree delivered in chambers.
The public prosecutor and the requested person are heard, the latter assisted by his advocate, if applicable, and, where necessary in the presence of an interpreter.

Article 696-14
Where, at his appearance, the requested person declares his consent to be extradited and the legal conditions for extradition are fulfilled, the investigating chamber, after informing the person of the legal consequences of his consent, formally acknowledges this within seven days from the date of his appearance, unless additional information has been ordered.
The investigating chamber's ruling is not open to appeal or other challenge.

Article 696-15
Where the requested person has declared to the prosecutor general that he does not consent to his extradition, the investigating chamber is immediately seised of the proceedings. The requested person appears before the chamber within a period of ten working days from the time of his appearance before the prosecutor general.
The provisions of the second, third and fourth paragraphs of article 696-13 are applicable.
If, at his appearance, the requested person declares that he does not consent to being extradited, the investigating chamber delivers a reasoned opinion on the extradition application. Unless additional information has been ordered, it delivers its opinion within one month from the requested person's appearance before it.
This opinion is unfavourable if the court feels that the legal conditions have not been fulfilled or if there is an obvious error.
A cassation application against the opinion of the investigating chamber may be based only on errors of form which have the effect of depriving the opinion of the essential conditions for his legal existence.

Article 696-16
The investigating chamber may, in an unappealable decision, authorise the requesting state to participate in the hearing at which the extradition application is being examined, through the intermediary of a person approved by the aforesaid state for this purpose. Where the requesting state is authorised to intervene, it does not thereby become party to the proceedings.

Article 696-17
If a reasoned opinion of the investigating chamber rejects the extradition application and this opinion is final, extradition cannot be granted.
The requested person is then automatically released, unless he is detained for another reason.

Article 696-18
In cases other than those provided for by article 696-17, extradition is authorised by a decree from the Prime Minister taken on the advice of the Minister of Justice. If, within one month of the notification of this decree to the requesting state the requested person has not been received by the agents of this state then, except in cases of force majeure, he is released and may no longer be requested in connection with the same matter.
An appeal lodged on the grounds of abuse of authority in relation to the decree mentioned in the previous paragraph must under penalty of foreclosure be lodged within one month. Making a request for administrative clemency against this decree does not stop the time running in respect of legal remedies.

Article 696-19
Release may be requested of the investigating chamber at any time according to the forms provided for by articles 148-6 and 148-7.
The advocate of the person concerned is summoned, by recorded delivery letter with request for acknowledgement of receipt, at least forty-eight hours before the date of the hearing. The investigating chamber rules as soon as possible and no later than twenty days from receiving the application, having heard the public prosecutor as well as the requested person or his advocate, and by making a ruling as provided for by article 199. If the release application is lodged by the requested person within forty-eight hours of his incarceration in the extradition prison, the time limit allowed for the investigating chamber to rule is reduced to fifteen days.
When it orders the release of a requested person the investigating chamber may also, as a security measure, oblige the person concerned to submit to one or more of the requirements listed in article 138
Prior to his release, the requested person must register his address with the investigating chamber or the prison governor. He is informed that must indicate any change of declared address to the investigating chamber in a recorded delivery letter with request for acknowledgement of receipt. He is also informed that any summons or notification made to his last declared address is considered to have been made to him in person.
A note of this information, as well as the declaration of address, is made either in the official record or in a document which is immediately sent, either in its original form or as a certified copy, by the prison governor to the investigating chamber.

Article 696-20
The revocation of judicial supervision or its modification may be ordered at any time by the investigating chamber under the conditions provided for by article 199, either of its own motion, or on the submission of the prosecutor general, or, after hearing the opinion of the prosecutor general, at the request of the requested person.
The investigating chamber rules within twenty days of being seised.

Article 696-21
If the requested person intentionally evades the obligations of judicial supervision of it, having benefited from release without judicial supervision it seems that he clearly intends to evade the extradition request, the investigating chamber may, on the request of the public prosecutor, issue a warrant for his arrest.
The provisions of article 74-2 are then applicable, the attributes of the district prosecutor and the liberty and custody judge set out in that article being respectively given to the prosecutor general and the president of the investigating chamber or a counsellor designated by him.
Where the person concerned has been apprehended, the case must be examined at the first public hearing and no later than ten days from his being placed in custody.
The investigating chamber confirms if necessary the withdrawal of the judicial supervision measures or the withdrawal of release of the person concerned.
The public prosecutor and the requested person are heard, the latter assisted, if applicable, by his advocate, and, if necessary, in the presence of an interpreter.
The expiry of the time limit mentioned in the second paragraph entails the automatic release of the person concerned.

Article 696-22
If the requested person is at liberty when the government's decision authorising the extradition becomes unappealable, the prosecutor general may order the search for and the arrest of the person concerned, and his placement on the extradition prison register. Where the person concerned has been apprehended, the prosecutor general immediately gives notice of his arrest to the Minister of Justice.
The surrender of the requested person to the requesting state takes places within seven days of the date of his arrest, failing which he is automatically released.

Article 696-23
In urgent cases and at the direct request of the competent authorities of the requesting state, the territorially competent district prosecutor may order the temporary arrest of a requested person for the purposes of extradition by the said state, and his placement on the extradition prison register.
The request for temporary custody, sent by any means giving rise to a written record, notes the existence of one of the documents mentioned in article 696-8 and records the intention of the requesting state to send an extradition application. It includes a brief summary of the matters of which the requested person is accused and, in addition, states his identity and nationality, the offence for which the extradition will be requested, the date and place it was committed, and, as applicable, the penalty incurred or the penalty imposed, and, if appropriate, that part of the sentence left to serve, and, where applicable, the nature and the date of any steps that have stopped the prescription period from running. A copy of this application is sent by the requesting state to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The district prosecutor immediately informs the Minister of Justice and the prosecutor general of this arrest.

Article 696-24
A person taken into taken custody under the provisions of article 696-23 is released if, within thirty days of his arrest, where this was done at the request of the competent authorities of the issuing state, the French government has not received any of the documents mentioned in article 696-8.
If the aforementioned documents later reach the French government, the proceedings are restarted, in accordance with articles 696-9 onwards.