French Code of Criminal Procedure
In forceI.-By decision of the judicial police officer, acting either ex officio or at the request of the public prosecutor or investigating judge, the results of DNA identification analyses shall be recorded in the file:
1° Biological traces from unknown persons, collected as part of a preliminary investigation, an investigation into a crime or flagrant offence, or an investigation, relating to one of the offences mentioned in Article 706-55 ;
1° bis Biological traces from unknown persons, collected as part of an investigation or an inquiry into the causes of death or disappearance as provided for in Articles 74,74-1 and 80-4 ;
2° Biological samples taken as part of a preliminary investigation, an investigation into a felony or a flagrant misdemeanour, or an investigation into persons in respect of whom there is serious or corroborating evidence making it likely that they have committed one of the offences referred to in Article 706-55 ;
3° Biological traces from unidentified corpses, collected as part of a preliminary investigation, an investigation into a flagrant crime or misdemeanour, or an information, relating to one of the offences mentioned in article 706-55, or as part of an investigation or an information for research into the causes of death provided for by articles 74 and 80-4 ;
4° Traces and biological samples taken or likely to be taken from a missing person, collected as part of an investigation or information for the purposes of investigating the causes of a disappearance as provided for by articles 74-1 or 80-4;
5° Biological samples taken, with their agreement, from the ascendants or descendants of a missing person, as part of an investigation or information for the purposes of investigating the causes of a disappearance as provided for by articles 74-1 and 80-4. If it is impossible or refused to take biological samples from the biological mother or father, samples may also be taken, with their agreement, from collaterals in the second and third degrees of the missing person, within the meaning of Article 743 of the Civil Code.
In the cases provided for in 5°, the consent of the persons concerned is recorded in a report. The persons concerned shall also specify, by express mention in the same report, that they authorise the comparison between their genetic fingerprint and those recorded or likely to be recorded in the file as well as those likely to be compared in the file pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 706-54, with the exception of the traces mentioned in 1° and 1° bis of I. In the absence of such authorisation, these prints may only be compared with those recorded under 3° and 4° of I and 1°, 2° and 3° of III.
II.By decision of the Public Prosecutor or the Principal Public Prosecutor, as appropriate, the results of DNA identification analyses shall be recorded in the file:
1° Biological samples taken from persons definitively found guilty of one of the offences referred to in article 706-55;
2° Biological samples taken from persons prosecuted for one of the offences referred to in article 706-55 who have been the subject of a definitive decision that they are not criminally responsible pursuant to articles 706-120,706-125,706-129,706-133 or 706-134.
III.-By decision of the public prosecutor, taken pursuant to the provisions of the sixth paragraph of article 706-54, the results of DNA identification analyses are recorded in the file separately from those mentioned in I and II:
1° Biological traces taken from unidentified corpses;
2° Biological samples taken or likely to be taken from missing persons who are the subject of searches under Article 26 of Law No. 95-73 of 21 January 1995 on security policy and programming and whose death is presumed, collected in places they are likely to have habitually frequented;
3° Biological traces originating or likely to originate from victims of natural disasters;
4° Biological samples taken, with their agreement, from the ascendants or descendants of victims of natural disasters or missing persons who are the subject of searches under the article 26 de la loi du 21 janvier 1995 sus mentionnée et dont la mort est supposée. If it is impossible or refused to take biological samples from the biological mother or father, samples may also be taken, with their agreement, from the second and third degree relatives of the victim of a natural disaster or the missing person, within the meaning of article 743 of the Civil Code.
In the cases provided for in 4°, the agreement of the persons concerned is obtained in writing. The persons concerned shall also expressly state that they authorise their genetic fingerprint to be compared with those mentioned in 3° and 4° of I and in 1° to 3° of III. The competent police or gendarmerie services and units shall keep the written documents in which the agreement and authorisation are expressed and shall send a copy in each case to the public prosecutor who referred the matter to them.
The data referred to in 1°, 2° and 3° shall be compared with that referred to in 3° to 5° of I and in III of this article.
IV.The Public Prosecutor, or after obtaining the opinion of this magistrate, the Examining Magistrate may, when required by the needs of an investigation or information concerning one of the crimes provided for in article 706-55, request the service managing the file to carry out a comparison between the genetic fingerprint recorded in the file established from a biological trace from an unknown person mentioned in 1° and 1° bis of I or a biological trace from an unidentified corpse mentioned in 3° of I and the genetic fingerprints of the persons mentioned in 2° of I and 1° and 2° of II, for the purpose of searching for persons who may be related in the direct line to this unknown person.
