BOOK IV
SOME SPECIFIC PROCEEDINGS

TITLE IX
OFFENCES COMMITTED OUTSIDE THE TERRITORY OF THE REPUBLIC

CHAPTER I
JURISDICTION OF FRENCH COURTS

Article 689
Perpetrators of or accomplices to offences committed outside the territory of the Republic may be prosecuted and tried by French courts either when French law is applicable under the provisions of Book I of the Criminal Code or any other statute, or when an international Convention gives jurisdiction to French courts to deal with the offence.

Article 689-1
In accordance with the international Conventions quoted in the following articles, a person guilty of committing any of the offences listed by these provisions outside the territory of the Republic and who happens to be in France may be prosecuted and tried by French courts. The provisions of the present article apply to attempts to commit these offences, in every case where attempt is punishable.

Article 689-2
For the implementation of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in New York on 10th December 1984, any person guilty of torture in the sense of article 1 of the Convention may be prosecuted and tried in accordance with the provisions of article 689-1.

Article 689-3
For the implementation of the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, signed in Strasbourg on 27th January 1977, and the Dublin agreement of 4th December 1979, made between the member states of the European Communities concerning the implementation of the European Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism, any person guilty of any of the following offences may be prosecuted and tried in accordance with the provisions set out in article 689-1:
1° intentional offences against life, torture and acts of barbarity, violence which caused death, mutilation or permanent infirmity or, if the victim is a minor, total incapacity to work for more than eight days, abduction and sequestration punished by Book II of the Criminal Code, and also threats as covered by articles 222-17, paragraph 2, and 222-18 of that Code where the offence is committed against a person entitled to an international protection including diplomatic agents;
2° offences against freedom of movement defined in article 421-1 of the Criminal Code or any other felony or misdemeanour entailing the use of bombs, grenades, rockets, automatic fire weapons, booby-trapped letters or parcels, insofar as this use creates a danger for persons, where the felony or misdemeanour is in relation to an individual or collective undertaking aimed at seriously breaching public order by intimidation or terror.

Article 689-4
For the implementation of the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, open for signature in Vienna and New York on 3 March 1980, any person guilty of any of the following offences may be prosecuted and tried in accordance with the provisions of article 689-1:
1° the misdemeanour set out by article 6-1 of law no. 80-572 of 25th July 1980, concerning the protection and control of nuclear substances,
2° the misdemeanours of unlawful appropriation set out by article 6 of the above mentioned law no. 80-572 of 25th July 1980, intentional assault against the life or physical integrity of a person, theft, extortion, blackmail, embezzlement, breach of trust, receiving stolen goods, destruction, defacement or damage or threat to commit an offence against persons or property, as defined by Books II and III of the Criminal Code, where the offence was committed with the use of nuclear materials falling within the scope of articles 1 and 2 of the Convention, or was committed in relation to these substances.

Article 689-5
For the implementation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf signed in Rome on 10th March 1988, any person guilty of any of the following offences may be prosecuted and tried in accordance with the provisions set out in article 689-1:
1° felonies defined in articles 224-6 and 224-7 of the Criminal Code;
2° intentional offences against life or physical integrity, destruction, defacement or damage, threats to commit an offence against persons or property punished by books II and III of the Criminal Code, or the misdemeanours defined by article 224-8 of that Code and by article L. 331-2 of the Maritime Harbours Code, if the offence endangers or is liable to endanger the safety of maritime navigation or of a fixed platform on the continental shelf;
3° intentional offences against life, torture and acts of barbarity or acts of violence punished by Book II of the Criminal Code, if the offence is related either to the offence defined under point 1°, or one or more offences liable to endanger the safety of sea-lanes or of a platform specified under point 2°.

Article 689-6
For the implementation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft signed at the Hague on 16 December 1970, and of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed in Montreal on 23rd September 1971, any person guilty of the following offences may be prosecuted and tried in accordance with the provisions set out in article 689-1:
1° hijacking of an aircraft not registered in France and any other act of violence directed against the passengers or crew, and committed by the presumed perpetrator of the hijacking, when directly connected with this offence,
2° any offence concerning an aircraft not registered in France and listed among those enumerated by a), b) and c) of point 1° of article 1 of the above-mentioned Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.

Article 689-7
For the implementation of the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation, signed at Montreal on 24th February 1988, as a complement to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation signed in Montreal on 23rd September 1971, any person guilty of the following offences committed with the use of a device, a substance or a weapon may be prosecuted and tried in accordance with the provisions set out in article 689-1:
1° if the offence breaches the safety or tends to breach the safety of an airport assigned to international civil aviation:
a) intentional attacks on life, torture and acts of barbarity, acts of violence causing death, mutilation or permanent infirmity or, if the victim is a minor, a total incapacity to work in excess of eight days, punished by book II of the Criminal Code, when the offence has been committed in an airport assigned to international civil aviation,
b) destruction, defacement and damage punished by book III of the Criminal Code, where the offence has been committed against the installations of an airport assigned to international civil aviation or an aircraft standing in the airport and not in use,
c) the misdemeanour set out in paragraph four (point 3°) of article L. 282-1 of the Civil Aviation Code, where the offence has been committed against the installations of an airport assigned to international civil aviation or an aircraft standing in the airport and not in use,
2° of the offence set out in paragraph 6 (point 5°) of article L. 282-1 of the Civil Aviation Code, where it has been committed against the services of an airport assigned to international civil aviation.

Article 689-8
For the application of the Protocol to the Convention on the Protection of the Communities' Financial Interests made in Dublin on 27th September 1996 and of the Convention on the Fight against Corruption involving Officials of the European Communities or Officials of Member States of the European Union made in Brussels on 26th May 1997, the following may be prosecuted and judged under the conditions provided for in article 689-1:
1° Any community civil servant working for one of the European Communities' institutions or for an organisation created in accordance with the treaties instituting the European Communities and having its seat in France, who is guilty of the misdemeanour provided for in article 435-1 of the Criminal Code or of an offence which damages the financial interests of the European Communities, in the sense of the Convention on the Protection of the Communities' Financial Interests made in Brussels on 26th July 1995;
2° Any French person or any other member of the French civil service guilty of any of the misdemeanours provided for in articles 435-1 and 435-2 of the Criminal Code or of an offence which damages the financial interests of the European Communities in the sense of the Convention on the Protection of the Communities' Financial Interests made in Brussels on 26th July 1995;
3° Any person guilty of the misdemeanour provided for in article 435-2 of the Criminal Code or of an offence which damages the financial interests of the European Communities in the sense of the Convention on the Protection of the Communities' Financial Interests made in Brussels on 26th July 1995, where these offences are committed against a French national.

Article 689-9
For the application of the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, opened for signature in New York on 12th January 1998, any person guilty of a felony or a misdemeanour constituting a terrorist act defined by articles 421-1 and 421-2 of the Criminal Code or of a misdemeanour of belonging to a terrorist group provided for by article 421-2-1 of the same Code, and where the offence was committed using an explosive or deadly device defined by article 1 of the aforesaid Convention, may be prosecuted and tried under the conditions provided for in article 689-1.

Article 689-10
For the application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, opened for signature in New York on 10 January 2000, where this offence constitutes financing terrorist acts in the sense of article 2 of the aforesaid Convention, any person guilty of a felony or a misdemeanour defined by articles 421-1 to 421-2-2 of the Criminal Code may be prosecuted and judged under the conditions provided for in article 689-1.

CHAPTER II
INITIATION OF PROSECUTION AND COURTS WITH AREA JURISDICTION

Article 692
In the cases set out in the preceding chapter, no prosecution may be initiated against a person who proves that he has been finally tried abroad for the same matters and, in the case of conviction, that the sentence has been served or extinguished by limitation.

Article 693
The court with jurisdiction is the one where the accused resides, that of his last known residence, that of the place where he was found, that of the residence of the victim or, if the offence was committed aboard or against an aircraft, that of the place where the aircraft landed. These provisions do not preclude the eventual application of the specific rules of jurisdiction set out in articles 697-3, 705, 706-1 and 706-17.
Where the provisions of the previous paragraph cannot be implemented, the court with jurisdiction is that of Paris, unless the case is sent for trial by the Court of Cassation to a court nearer to the place of the offence, upon the application of the public prosecutor or the request of the parties.