Section II: Letters rogatory from foreign States

The judicial court alone has jurisdiction to hear letters rogatory. The judicial court with territorial jurisdiction is the court within whose jurisdiction the letters rogatory are to be executed.

The Minister of Justice shall transmit letters rogatory addressed to him to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the competent judicial court. The Minister of Justice shall transmit letters rogatory addressed to him to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the competent judicial court.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office shall immediately forward the letter rogatory to the president of the judicial court for execution.

On receipt of the letter rogatory, the judge appointed for this purpose by the president of the judicial court shall carry out the prescribed operations. .

The letter rogatory shall be executed in accordance with French law unless the foreign court has requested that it be executed in a particular form. If so requested in the letter rogatory, the questions and answers shall be transcribed or recorded in full.

The parties and their defenders, even if they are foreigners, may, with the judge’s permission, ask questions; these must be formulated or translated into French; the same applies to the answers given to them.

The assigned judge is required to inform the assigning court, at its request, of the place, day and time at which the execution of the letter rogatory will take place; the foreign assigning judge may attend. .

The judge may not refuse to execute a letter rogatory on the sole ground that French law claims exclusive jurisdiction, or that it does not know of a legal remedy that responds to the subject matter of the request brought before the issuing court, or that it does not admit the result to which the letter rogatory tends.

The judge assigned may refuse, of his own motion or at the request of any interested person, the execution of a letter rogatory if he considers that it does not fall within his powers. He must refuse it if it is likely to prejudice the sovereignty or security of the French State. In the same cases, interested persons may also ask the judge assigned to rescind the measures he has…

The public prosecutor must ensure compliance with the guiding principles of the trial in the execution of letters rogatory. In the event of a breach of these principles, the public prosecutor or the interested party may ask the judge assigned to rescind the measures he has taken or to annul the acts recording the execution of the letter rogatory.