Paragraph 3 : Assignment of civil servants from the corps d'encadrement et d'application de la police nationale with the status of judicial police officer to the departments referred to in article 16 (4°)

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Article A34

French Code of Criminal ProcedureIn force

Updated 5 Nov 2023

The civil servants of the corps d'encadrement et d'application de la police nationale referred to in Article 16 (4°) and who have the status of judicial police officer may receive authorisation to exercise the powers attached to this status if they are assigned to one of the departments or to one of the categories of departments defined in articles R. 15-18 to R. 15-26-1 and listed below:

1° Services whose territorial jurisdiction covers the entire national territory:

the central directorate of the judicial police;

the sub-directorate of the judicial police of the national gendarmerie;

the general directorate of internal security;

the general inspectorate of the national police;

the detachment of the national police to the national directorate of customs investigations;

the automated road traffic offence recording centre.

2° Services whose territorial jurisdiction extends over one or more defence zones or parts thereof:

-the zonal directorates of the judicial police and their territorial directorates and judicial police departments and the regional directorates of the judicial police and their departmental departments and judicial police departments;

-the directorate of the prefecture of police responsible for maintaining public order and regulating traffic;

-the directorate of the prefecture of police responsible for public security and peace missions, as well as its territorial sureties and local security districts;

-the operational directorate of the technical and logistical services of the prefecture of police;

-the public security districts referred to in article R. 15-19 (7°);

-the research sections of the departmental gendarmerie.

3° Services whose territorial jurisdiction extends over an entire department:

-the sûretés départementales;

-the circonscriptions de sécurité publique.

4° Services of the territorial directorates of the national police:

-the services territoriaux de sécurité publique;

> -territorial criminal investigation departments;

-territorial border police services;

Mariela Petrova

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Working with a corporate lawyer in France — Q&A

Any time a strategic decision changes how the company is owned, governed or contractually bound — incorporation, fundraising, M&A, restructuring, shareholder agreements, or major commercial contracts. Earlier engagement always costs less than later remediation.

A notary (notaire) is a public officer who authenticates specific deeds (mainly real-estate transfers and certain family-law acts). A corporate lawyer (avocat) advises on strategy, negotiates and drafts company documents, and represents you in disputes. The two roles complement rather than overlap.

Yes — most of our clients are foreign suppliers, investors or holding entities. We bridge the gap between French law and your home jurisdiction's expectations and deliver everything bilingually.

The SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée) is the default choice for most international structures: flexible governance, single shareholder allowed, no minimum capital, and works cleanly with foreign holding entities. We assess SARL, SA, SCI on the merits when the situation calls for it.

Yes — communications with a French avocat are protected by the secret professionnel (Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971). This protection is broader than the common-law attorney-client privilege and applies to written and oral exchanges.

We work on fixed fees for clearly scoped engagements (incorporation, contract drafting, audits) and on monthly retainers for ongoing advisory. Hourly billing is the exception, not the default. You always know the cost before work starts.

Typical timeline is 2–3 weeks from KYC kick-off to RCS registration, assuming standard documentation. Holding-company structures, foreign-shareholder identification or in-kind contributions can extend this — we flag the gating items at the first meeting.

Absolutely. We routinely coordinate with your in-house counsel, expert-comptable or notaire — pragmatic collaboration is the norm, not the exception. We send them everything they need to do their part without duplicating work.

Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

Avocate au Barreau de Paris

Toque #C2396

15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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Communications protected by professional secrecy — secret professionnel de l'avocat, Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971.

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