French Public Health Code
In force1. The representative of the State in the département may order the closure of pubs and restaurants for a period not exceeding six months, following breaches of the laws and regulations relating to these establishments.
This closure must be preceded by a warning, which may, if necessary, replace it, when the facts likely to justify the closure result from an exceptional failure on the part of the operator or one which it is easy for him to remedy.
2. In the event of a threat to public order, health, tranquillity or morality, closure may be ordered by the State representative in the département for a period not exceeding two months. The representative of the State in the département may reduce the duration of this closure if the operator undertakes to follow the training leading to the issue of an operating licence as referred to in article L. 3332-1-1.
In the light of local circumstances, the representative of the State in the département may, by order, delegate to a mayor who so requests the exercise of the prerogatives mentioned in the first paragraph of this 2 within the territory of the municipality. The representative of the State in the département may terminate this delegation, under the same conditions, at the mayor's request or on his own initiative.
The prerogatives delegated to the mayor in application of the second paragraph of this 2 are exercised in the name and on behalf of the State. The mayor shall forward to the representative of the State in the département, within three days of their signature, the closure orders that he or she issues under these prerogatives. The representative of the State in the département may order the administrative closure of an establishment, after the mayor has served formal notice but failed to act.
2 bis. The order ordering the closure on the basis of 1 or 2 of this article is enforceable forty-eight hours after it has been notified if the facts giving rise to the order occurred more than forty-five days prior to the date on which it was signed.
3. When the closure is motivated by criminal or misdemeanour acts covered by the criminal law provisions in force, with the exception of the offences referred to in 1, the closure may be ordered by the representative of the State in the département for a period of six months. In this case, closure entails cancellation of the operating licence referred to in article L. 3332-1-1.
4. The crimes and offences or breaches of public order that may justify the closures provided for in 2 and 3 must be related to the frequency of use of the establishment or its operating conditions.
5. With the exception of the warning provided for in 1, the measures taken in application of this article are subject to the provisions of the Code of Relations between the Public and the Administration.
6. In Paris, the powers devolved to the representative of the State in the department by this article are exercised by the Prefect of Police.
