French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceThe agency is responsible for ensuring, throughout the country and by court order:
1° The management of all assets, whatever their nature, seized, confiscated or subject to a protective measure in the course of criminal proceedings, which are entrusted to it and which require, for their preservation or enhancement, acts of administration ;
2° The centralised management of all sums seized in the course of criminal proceedings;
3° The disposal or destruction of assets that it has been tasked with managing under 1° and that are ordered, without prejudice to the allocation of these assets under the conditions provided for in articles L. 2222-9 du code général de la propriété des personnes publiques et 707-1 du présent code;
4° L'aliénation des biens ordonnée ou autorisée dans les conditions prévues aux articles 41-5 and 99-2 of this code;
5° The management of assets allocated free of charge by the administrative authority under the conditions set out in the same articles 41-5 and 99-2 and in article L. 2222-9 of the General Code on the Ownership of Public Persons.
Sums transferred to the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets pursuant to 2° of this article, the origin of which cannot be determined, are transferred to the State at the end of a period of four years following their receipt, when the annual accounts are closed. In the event of a restitution decision after the four-year period, the State shall reimburse the Agency the sums due.
The Agency may, under the same conditions, ensure the management of seized property, proceed with the disposal or destruction of seized or confiscated property and proceed with the distribution of the proceeds of the sale in compliance with any request for mutual assistance or cooperation from a foreign judicial authority.
The agency may make available, free of charge where applicable, property whose management is entrusted to it under 1° of this article to associations whose activities fall entirely within the scope of b of 1 of Article 200 of the General Tax Code, as well as to associations, foundations recognised as being of public utility and organisations benefiting from the approval provided for in Article L. 365-2 of the Construction and Housing Code. The terms and conditions of this provision shall be defined by regulation.
All of its powers shall apply to seized or confiscated assets, including those not covered by Title XXIX.
The decision to transfer assets subject to criminal seizure to the Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets shall be notified or published according to the rules applicable to the seizure itself.
In the exercise of its powers, the Agency may obtain the assistance and any useful information from any natural or legal person, public or private, without professional secrecy being enforceable against it, subject to the provisions of article 66-5 of law no. 71-1130 of 31 December 1971 reforming certain judicial and legal professions.
