Subsection 3: Pre-trial detention

Articles in this section · 25

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Article 148-2

French Code of Criminal ProcedureIn force
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Updated 8 Nov 2023

Any court called upon to rule, pursuant to articles 141-1 and 148-1, on an application to lift all or part of the judicial supervision order or on an application for release, shall make its decision after hearing the public prosecutor, the accused, who shall be notified in advance of his right to remain silent about the facts of which he is accused, or his lawyer; the accused who is not in custody and his lawyer shall be summoned by registered letter at least forty-eight hours before the date of the hearing. If the person has already appeared before the court less than four months previously, the president of that court may in the event of an application for release refuse the personal appearance of the person concerned by a reasoned decision which is not subject to appeal.

Where the person has not yet been tried at first instance, the court before which the application is made shall rule within ten days or twenty days of receipt of the application, depending on whether it is a court of first or second instance. Where the person has already been tried at first instance and an appeal is pending, the court seised shall give its decision within two months of the request. Where the person has already been tried at second instance and has lodged an appeal in cassation, the court seised shall rule within four months of the application.

However, if on the day the application is received a decision has not yet been taken either on a previous application for release or for release from judicial supervision, or on an appeal against a previous decision refusing release or releasing the person from judicial supervision, the time limits set out above do not begin to run until the competent court has given its decision. In the absence of a decision on expiry of the time limits, the judicial supervision or pre-trial detention shall be terminated and the accused, if not detained for another reason, shall be automatically released.

The court's decision is immediately enforceable notwithstanding an appeal; where the accused is kept in detention, the court shall rule within twenty days of the appeal, failing which the accused, if not detained for another reason, shall be automatically released.

Mariela Petrova

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Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

Avocate au Barreau de Paris

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15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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