• It can take place anywhere in the public space.

• The cops ask you for an ID paper. Despite what they say, you are
not obliged to have one with you.

• If you do not present an id paper, you can declare an oral identity
(true or false). A family name, a name, a place and date of birth.

• They can ask you to empty your pockets and see the content of
your bag, but you only have the legal obligation to obey them if
they have a requisition giving them the that right, concerning only
the hour and the place you’re at (be sure to check that).

• If they’re not convinced by your declared identity, if you did not
declare any, or only to piss off, the cops can take you to the police
station to continue the identity check. (see III).

• Cops can ask for the car’s papers and the papers of the person
driving at any moment.

• If they present a requisition (and only in that case), they can search
the vehicle and proceed to the passengers’ identity check (this
identity check is under the same rules as an identity check in public
space).

• If they don’t have a requisition with them, they can retain you 30
minutes to have the time to present one.

• Don’t forget to check the validity of the requisition : day, time, place, etc.

During an ID check, if cops are not convinced of the ID you have given
them (or if you don’t declare any), they can take you to the police station
by order of the police officer (Officier de Police Judiciaire, OPJ in
french) (in the countryside, it would be the gendarmerie, which is the
military).

• The ID check at the police station can last a maximum of 4h
starting at the beginning of the ID check itself (when they first
controlled you in public space). These 4h are meant for the police
officer to determine or verify your identity. If you’re a minor, cops
must notify your legal guardians who must come to attend the ID
check (unless there is an impossibility).

• It does not lead to auditions on facts. Beyond your identity (family
name, name, date and place of birth), you can stick to « nothing to
declare ».

• Not giving an identity is not an infraction.

• Declaring an imaginary identity is punishable with a fine, it is not
enough to justify police custody. Usurping someone’s complete ID
is punishable with 5 years of jail and a fine of 75 000€.

• Unlike magistrates, cops don’t have access to the civil registry file,
but they can consult the driver’s licence file, the criminal record file,
and the wanted persons file.

• With the consent of the prosecutor, they can ask for identification
signage (fingerprints and photo). Refusing, during an ID check at
the police station, is punishable with 3 months of jail and a fine of
3570€. It is enough to justify police custody but not immediate
trial.

• If cops took your photo, they can use facial recognition to identify
you from some of the files they have access to (including the
criminal records file and the wanted persons file).

Refusing to give your id and/or your identification signage can be a
political choice (refusing to collaborate with the massive recording of
informations, supporting people wanted by the police) or a strategy put
in place by people wanted by the police.

If you don’t have french nationality (wether UE or outside UE)

You can be taken to administrative detention. It can last 24h starting at
the beginning of your identity check in public space. It is a particular
procedure in which cops verify the validity of your residence permit.

• You have the same rights as in police custody : the right to have an
interpreter in your native tongue (who is not a cop), the right to
have a lawyer, to see a doctor, and to notify any person of your
choice and the consular authorities of your country.

• But administrative detention has its own rules too : you don’t have
the right to remain silent, and you can keep your phone.

• For people with no papers, we particularily insist on not signing any
document. Even if you understant french, you can always say that
you don’t understand and refuse to sign.

A) Overviews

If cops suspect you of having commited or tried to commit one or several
offences liable to imprisonment, they can call the prosecutor (or the
investigating judge) who can decide to put you under police custody. A
local police officer must notify you of the motives of the custody.

• You are placed under the responsibility of a police officer who must
notify you your rights and decides your schedule (rest, audition,
meal…) A police custody can last up to 24h starting from the
beginning of your deprivation of liberty (id check in public space of
at the police station). The prosecutor can decide to extend it of 24h
if the motives are crimes or offences liable of more than one year of
jail (so almost everything). The investigation judge can ask to
extend the custody to 72h for any investigation, and 168h for
terrorism cases.

B) Your rights :

• Remain silent.
• Feed.
• See a lawyer.
• See a doctor.
• Get an interpreter.
• Notify (by the cops) any person of your choice and your employer).

• Since 2024, no audition can be held without a lawyer (except for
some specifice cases). We strongly recommend to remember the
name and the bar association of a lawyer trusted by the legal
team. If they’re not available, cops will ask a public defender. Be
careful : public defenders do not always give good advice !

• You have the right to a confidential conversation of 30 minutes
with your lawyer, renewable each time the custody is extended.
The advise you and communicate with the outside wolrd : you can
indicate them who to contact to get papers you would need.

• Asking to see a doctor allows you at least to see someone who’s
not a cop. Not every doctor is a friend, but they’re not all ennemies
either (any doctor can be requisitionned). You can ask to see the
doctor alone if they don’t oppose to it.

If you’re a minor
• You can be place in police custody from 13.
• If cops have your ID, they automatically call your legal guardians. In
some cases, the judge or prosecutor can decide to wait 24h before
notifying your legal guardians.
• For minors under 16, seeing a doctor is mandatory. But you or your
legal guardians can ask it as well.
• Auditions are recorded.

C) Auditions

• The police custody is a moment of investigation. The police officer
can audition you as many times as they like. Anything you will say
(or do) will be retranscripted in minutes which will fuel your
criminal case.

• We strongly recommend not to declare anything other than the
identity (if you chose to declare one), even if you’re asked questions
that sound trivial or that have really obvious answers. Be careful :
sometimes the public defender will tell you otherwise. Don’t listen
to them and keep on not declaring anything.

D) Identification signage and DNA

• Anyone under police custody is asked to give their identification
signage (fingerprints and photo). Depending on the charges, cops
can ask for your DNA.

• Refusing to give your signage under police custody and refusing to
give your DNA are punishable by one year of jail and a fine of 15
000€.

• Since 2022, if cops suspect you to have commited a crime or
offence punishable by 3 years of jail or more and have a doubt on
your identity, they can take your identification signage by
strength. They can only do that while your lawyer is here.

• If you refuse to have your DNA taken, cops can take it « by
cunning », that is to say on an object detached from your body. In
that case, they can use it in the current case but they can’t give it to
the FNAEG (the national DNA samples file).

E) Ending of the police custody

• The motives of a police custody are often different from the
charges with which you get out. Sometimes one can be charged
heavily and the charges are dropped during the custody, for lack of
evidence. Charges can increase too, particularily if you commit new
offences ( refusing to give your signage, outrage…).

• There is no obligation to sign any paper presented to you : we
advise you not to sign anything.

A) What can happen after police custody :

• You can be released with no convocation. A convocation could be
sent within three years.

• You can be released with a convocation for a trial.

• You can be presented to the judge for an immediate trial.

• You can be deffered or summoned and then released with a
probationary warning (avertissement pénal probatoire, APP in
french) : we advise you not to sign (it would be acknowlegment of
the facts) and not to give your phone number.
In most cases, we also advise not to respect the given conditions
(not to go to convocations, not to pay fines…). The only risk, and
that’s still unlikely, is to be judged for the alleged facts. Still, make
contact with the Legal Team on that subject, it can depend on the
cases.
Non-exhaustive list of most frequent cases.

B) Judicial supervision

In some cases, you can by put under judicial supervision while awaiting
trial. It consists of obligations (showing up on a regular basis to the
police station, etc) and/or prohibitions (of being in a territory, to get in
contact with other people, etc).

C) The immediate trial (comparution immédiate, CI in french)

By decision of the prosecutor, you can be presented to the court to be
judged right after police custody. You can refuse to be judged right away,
which has to be granted to you.
• In most cases, it is best to refuse to be judged because sentences
in immediate trials are above average. If you refuse, your trial will
take place 2 to 6 weeks later, which will allow you to prepare a
defense. You then appear to the judge of freedom and detention
(JLD in french), whom will decide of a potential judicial supervision
or a pre-tial detention.

D) Representation guarantees

To decide which procedure your going to go through (juidiciary
supervision or pre-trial detention), the prosecutors, judges, investigating
judge or judge of freedom and detention rely especially on the
documents you will present them to guarantee your identity, where you
live, and your integration to society. We call these documents the
« representation guarantees ».

• It can be useful to have thought beforehand (at least before going
to a protest or an action) of the documents which you want to
present, and to have given them to someone you trust (ideally not
likely to be arrested with you).

• Any document signed from a third party (certificate of
accomodation, job offer…) has to come with an id document
photocopy and documents proving that you’re linked to your
accomodation/association/job (eletricity bill, …).
Around Bure, certificates of accomodation are not very useful.

Some people choose not go give those documents because they
describe which social situation you’re in and so encourage the justice
system to make differences regarding social criterias.