BOOK II
TRIAL COURTS

TITLE II
THE TRIAL OF MISDEMEANOURS

CHAPTER I
THE CORRECTIONAL COURT

SECTION VIII
APPEARANCE AFTER PRIOR ADMISSION OF GUILT

Article 495-7
For misdemeanours punished by a principal penalty of a fine or a prison sentence not exceeding five years, the district prosecutor may, of his own motion or at the request of the party concerned or his advocate, use the procedure of appearance on prior admission of guilt under the provisions of the present section, in relation to any person summoned to this end or brought before him under the provisions of article 393, where this person admits the matters of which he is accused.

Article 495-8
The district prosecutor may suggest to the person that he undergo one or more of the main or additional penalties incurred; the nature and quantum of the penalty or penalties are determined in accordance with the provisions of article 132-24 of the Criminal Code.
Where the penalty suggested is a prison sentence, its duration may not exceed either a year or half the prison sentence incurred. The prosecutor may suggest that it be suspended in part or in whole. He may also suggest that this sentence be subject to the measures of adaptation listed in article 712-6. If the district prosecutor proposes an immediate prison sentence, he makes it clear to the person whether he means the penalty to be immediately enforced or whether the person will be summoned to appear before the penalty enforcement judge for the conditions of implementation of the sentence to be determined, notably in relation to semi-detention, external placement, or placement under electronic surveillance.
Where the penalty of a fine is proposed, its amount may not exceed the maximum fine applicable to the offence. It may be accompanied by a suspension.
The statements in which the person admits the matters of which he is accused are received, and the penalty suggestion is made by the district prosecutor, in the presence of the advocate of the party concerned and chosen by him, or appointed by the bar at his request, the person concerned being informed that he will have to bear the cost unless he fulfils the conditions for legal aid. The person may not waive his right to be assisted by an advocate. The advocate must be able to consult the case file immediately.
The person may talk freely with his advocate, without the district prosecutor being present, before communicating his decision. He is advised by the district prosecutor that he may request to be granted a period of ten days in which to communicate whether he accepts or refuses the penalty or penalties proposed.

ARTICLE 495-9
Where, in the presence of his advocate, the person accepts the proposed penalty or penalties, he is immediately brought before the president of the district court or the judge appointed by him, who is seised with the approval request by the district prosecutor.
The president of the district court or the judge appointed by him hears the person and his advocate. After checking the truth of the facts and their legal qualification, he may decide to approve the penalties proposed by the district prosecutor. He rules the same day by means of a reasoned decision. The procedure set out in the present paragraph takes place at a public hearing; the presence of the district prosecutor is not obligatory.

Article 495-10
Where the person has requested the interval provided for by the last paragraph of article 495-8 before giving an answer to the proposition made by the district prosecutor, the district prosecutor may bring him before the liberty and custody judge so that the latter may order his placement under judicial supervision or, exceptionally and if one of the penalties the district prosecutor has proposed is immediate imprisonment of two months or more and the district prosecutor has proposed that it be immediately executed, his placement in pre-trial detention according to the conditions set out by the last paragraph of article 394 or articles 395 and 396, until he appears before the district prosecutor again. This new appearance must take place within between ten and twenty days of the judgment delivered by the liberty and custody judge. Failing this, the judicial supervision or pre-trial detention orders imposed on the party concerned come to an end, if one of these measures had been implemented.

Article 495-11
A order by which the president of the district court or the judge appointed by him approves the penalty or penalties proposed states as its reasons firstly that the person concerned, in the presence of his advocate, has admitted the offences charged, and secondly that these penalties are justified in relation to the circumstances of the offence and the character of its perpetrator.
The order has the effect of conviction judgment. It is immediately enforceable. Where the penalty approved is an unsuspended prison sentence, the person is, in accordance with the distinctions set out by the second paragraph of article 495-8, either immediately incarcerated in a remand prison, or summoned before the penalty enforcement judge, to whom the order is thus communicated without delay.
In all cases, it may be subject to appeal by the convicted person, in accordance with the provisions of articles 498, 500, 502 and 505. The public prosecutor may also lodge an appeal under the same conditions. Failing this, the order counts as res judicata.

Article 495-12
Where the person states that he does not accept one of more of the penalties proposed or if the president of the district court or the judge appointed by him delivers an order refusing to grant these proposals, the district prosecutor, unless some new element intervenes, seises the correctional court using one of the procedures provided for by article 388, or orders an investigation to be opened.
Where the person has been referred to him in accordance with the provisions of article 393, the district prosecutor may detain him until his appearance before the correctional court or the investigating judge, which must take place that same day, in accordance with the provisions of article 395. If it is not possible to hold the court sitting that same day, the provisions of article 396 are applied. The provisions of the present article apply even if the person had requested a delay and had been place in pre-trial detention in accordance with the provisions of article 495-8 and 495-10.

Article 495-13
Where the victim of the offence has been identified, he is immediately informed, using any available means, of these proceedings. He is invited to appear before the president of the district court or the judge appointed by him at the same time as the perpetrator, accompanied, where appropriate, by his advocate, in order to constitute himself a civil party and to request damages for any harm done against him. The president of the district court or the judge appointed by him rules on this request, even in cases where the civil party has not appeared at the hearing by applying article 420-1. The civil party may appeal against the ruling in accordance with the provisions of articles 498 and 500.
Where the victim has not been able to exercise the right provided for in the preceding paragraph, the district prosecutor must inform him of his right to summon the perpetrator for a hearing of the correctional court ruling in accordance with the provisions of the fourth paragraph of article 464, of which the victim is informed of the date, in order to constitute himself a civil party. The court then rules solely on the civil claim, after consulting the case file which is attached to the hearing.

Article 495-14
Under penalty of nullity of the proceedings, an official report is drawn up of the formalities followed in accordance with articles 495-8 to 495-13.
Where the person has not accepted the sentence or sentences proposed or where the president of the district court or the judge appointed by him has not approved the district prosecutor's proposal, the official report may not be sent to the investigating or trial court or to the public prosecutor, and neither the parties nor the public prosecutor may make use of any statements made or documents given in the course of the procedure.

Article 495-15
A defendant who has been the subject, for one of the misdemeanours mentioned in article 495-7, of a direct citation or a summons in accordance with the provisions of articles 390 or 390-1 may, either himself or through his advocate, by means of a recorded delivery letter with request for acknowledgement of receipt sent to the district prosecutor, indicate that he admits that he is guilty of the charges made against him and request that the procedure provided by the present section be applied.
In this case, the district prosecutor may, if he considers this appropriate, proceed in accordance with the provisions of articles 495-8 onwards, after summoning the defendant and his advocate as well as, if applicable, the victim. The direct citation or the summons are then null and void, unless the person refuses to accept the penalties proposed or the president of the district court or the judge appointed by him refuses to approve them, where one or other of these refusals comes more than ten days before the date of the hearing before the correctional court mentioned in the document relating to the initial prosecution.
The district prosecutor, if he decides not to apply the provisions of articles 495-8 onwards, is not obliged to inform the defendant or his advocate of this.
The provisions of the present article are not applicable to persons referred to the correctional court by the investigating judge.

Article 495-16
The provisions of the present section are not applicable to minors under eighteen years of age, or to press misdemeanours, or to misdemeanours of involuntary homicide, political misdemeanours, or to offences for which the prosecution procedure is provided for by a special statute.