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Police custody (garde à vue)

Key points

  • Ask straight away for a lawyer and a doctor.
  • Stay silent until you have spoken with the lawyer; never talk about others.
  • Read every statement; don't sign anything inaccurate.
  • Length: 24 hours, renewable once.
  • On release: write everything down while it's fresh, keep the documents, contact a legal team.

Disclaimer

General information about French law, not legal advice. Your lawyer is the only person to trust with the details of your situation.

Flowchart: from arrest to release

  1. What are you told?
    • ID check (no custody) → 4 hours maximum; you can have the prosecutor and a person of your choice informed.1
    • Police custody → follow the steps below.
  2. As soon as your rights are read → ask for a lawyer and a doctor, have a relative informed.2
  3. Are you a minor?
    • Yes → a lawyer is mandatory, parents are informed, interviews are filmed.3
    • No → 24 hours, renewable once.2
  4. During interviews → stay silent until you have spoken with the lawyer; never talk about others.2
  5. A statement to sign?
    • Accurate → you can sign.
    • Inaccurate → don't sign, or have it corrected.
  6. On release → write everything down while it's fresh, keep the documents; fast-track trial: you can ask for more time.4 Contact a legal team.

Your rights, from the start

They must be notified to you immediately, in a language you understand:2

  • The right to remain silent. You can give your identity and refuse to answer other questions.
  • A lawyer, of your choice or court-appointed (free depending on your income). Since 1 July 2024, you can ask that no questioning takes place without a lawyer.5 The meeting with the lawyer is confidential and lasts 30 minutes at most; you can ask for it again at the start of an extension.6
  • A doctor. They rule in particular on whether custody is compatible with your condition, and their certificate goes in the file.2
  • Have someone notified: a relative and your employer. The police make the call (often from a hidden number), which is why you should write the 10 digits of a close contact on your skin under clothing before the protest: since your phone is taken during the search, never ask to unlock it in front of officers to look up a number.27
  • An interpreter if needed.
  • Access to some case documents (notification report, medical certificate).

To remember them: A.M.I.S = Avocat (lawyer), Médecin (doctor), Informer (a relative), Silence.

Duration: 24 hours, renewable once (48 hours) for most offences alleged at protests. For the most serious offences it can reach 72 hours (96 for some), and 144 hours for terrorism.2 If another coercive measure came first for the same facts, the clock runs from the time you were deprived of liberty, not from arrival at the station.8

During custody

  • Dignity: custody must take place in conditions that respect your dignity, and only strictly necessary security measures may be imposed on you.9
  • In the cell, a mattress and a blanket must be provided; you can drink water and have hot meals at normal times.2
  • Searches: a pat-down is done by a person of the same sex. A strip search (you may have to undress) is only possible if indispensable to the investigation, decided by an OPJ, carried out by a person of the same sex in a closed room. An internal search can only be done by a doctor.2
  • Photos and fingerprints can feed police files, including the TAJ (criminal records processing file) for the photo.2 Refusing the photo does not prevent registration: the TAJ is fed by the procedure. See DNA, fingerprints and photos.
  • Your belongings (phone, wallet) can be removed; they must be returned afterwards unless seized.2

Reflexes

  1. Ask for a lawyer and a doctor as soon as your rights are read.
  2. Say nothing before speaking to the lawyer, even "to explain yourself": anything you say can be used. Saying "I have nothing to declare" is a right. This also applies in the cell, in the toilets and during transfers: talk about the case to no one but your lawyer.
  3. Don't talk about others: no names, no descriptions, no "who was there".
  4. Re-read every statement (procès-verbal). Don't sign anything inaccurate; you can refuse to sign or ask for corrections.
  5. Stay calm: provocation and pressure happen, don't let yourself be pushed into a mistake.

Say these word for word (in French): "Je veux voir un avocat." · "Je veux voir un médecin." · "Je n'ai rien à déclarer." · for a minor: "Prévenez mes parents."

Fingerprints, DNA, phone code

Refusing fingerprints, photos or DNA sampling is an offence in itself. Refusing to give your phone unlock code can also be one when it is requested by a formal judicial order (Cour de cassation, 7 November 2022). Ask your lawyer before deciding.10111213

Minors

  • Parents (or legal guardians) must be notified by the police, in principle within 3 hours.3
  • A lawyer is mandatory.3
  • Medical examination: mandatory from the start under 16; at 16 and 17, you (or your parents) must ask for it.3
  • Interviews are video-recorded.3
  • Under 13, no custody (only a strictly supervised "retenue").3

Official page: custody of a minor (in French)

On release

  • Write down straight away what happened: times, places, words, names or badge numbers, conditions of detention.
  • Keep all documents given to you (summons, warning, notice of trial).
  • Fast-track trial (comparution immédiate): you can ask for more time to prepare your defence.4
  • Contact a legal team or a local anti-repression collective (list of local collectives) for follow-up, and a solidarity fund for costs.14
  • Lawyer's fees: you may be entitled to legal aid depending on your income.15
  • Violence or misconduct by the police: file a complaint and report it.

Custody contacts and resources in the directory

In one of these situations? arrested or in custody · witness to an arrest or close to someone arrested · a high-school student · the parent of a minor · a civil servant or public employee

Sources

Each note links to the source of the information. Most sources are in French. Laws change: check the date of the source and, if in doubt, ask a lawyer.

  1. Service-Public — Retenue pour vérification du droit au séjour · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  2. Service-Public — Garde à vue · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  3. Service-Public — Retenue ou garde à vue d'un mineur · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  4. Service-Public — Comparution immédiate · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  5. Service-Public — Réforme de la garde à vue au 1er juillet 2024 · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  6. Légifrance — Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 63-4 (meeting with the lawyer; in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  7. Syndicat de la magistrature — Guide du manifestant arrêté · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  8. Légifrance — Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 63 (placement and length of police custody; in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  9. Légifrance — Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 63-5 (dignity in police custody; in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  10. Code de procédure pénale, article 55-1 (Légifrance) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  11. Code de procédure pénale, article 706-56 (Légifrance) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  12. Code pénal, article 434-15-2 (Légifrance) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  13. Cour de cassation, chambre criminelle, 7 novembre 2022, n° 21-83.146 · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  14. Legal Team Paris–IDF — La ligne antirep est ouverte · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  15. Service-Public — Aide juridictionnelle · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

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