Section 3: Powers of the public prosecutor

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Article 44-1

French Code of Criminal ProcedureIn force
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Updated 8 Nov 2023

For offences that municipal police officers are authorised to record by means of a procès-verbal in accordance with the provisions of articles L. 511-1 and L. 512-2 of the Internal Security Code and which are committed to the detriment of the municipality in respect of one of its assets, the mayor may, as long as the public prosecution has not been initiated, propose to the offender a transaction consisting of compensation for this detriment.

The settlement proposed by the mayor and accepted by the offender must be approved by the public prosecutor.

Actions aimed at implementing or enforcing the settlement interrupt the statute of limitations on public action.

The public prosecution is extinguished when the perpetrator of the offence has performed the obligations resulting for him from acceptance of the transaction within the time limit set.

The settlement may also consist of the performance, for the benefit of the municipality, of unpaid work for a maximum period of thirty hours. It must then be approved, depending on the nature of the contravention, by the competent judge of the police court.

When one of these offences has not been committed to the detriment of the municipality but has been committed on its territory, the mayor may propose to the public prosecutor that one of the measures provided for in articles 41-1 or 41-3 of this code be taken. He shall be notified by the public prosecutor of the action taken on his proposal.

The provisions of this article apply to contraventions of the same nature that the agents of the city of Paris responsible for a police service and the Paris surveillance agents are empowered to record by official report in accordance with the provisions of articles L. 531-1 and L. 532-1 du code de la sécurité intérieure. These provisions also apply to offences of the same nature that the gardes champêtres are authorised to record by means of a procès-verbal in accordance with the article L. 521-1 du code de la sécurité intérieure.

A Conseil d'Etat decree will specify the conditions for application of this article.

Mariela Petrova

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Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

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