Chapter V: Geolocation

Any technical means intended for real-time location, throughout the national territory, of a person, without that person’s knowledge, of a vehicle or of any other object, without the consent of its owner or possessor, may be used if this operation is required by the necessities: 1° An investigation or enquiry into a crime or offence punishable by at least three years’ imprisonment; 2° An investigation or enquiry into the causes…

The operation referred to in Article 230-32 is authorised: 1° As part of an investigation in flagrante delicto, a preliminary investigation or a procedure provided for in articles 74 to 74-2, by the public prosecutor, for a maximum period of fifteen consecutive days in the cases provided for in articles 74 to 74-2 or when the investigation concerns a crime or an offence mentioned in articles 706-73 or 706-73-1, or…

In the cases mentioned in 1° and 2° of article 230-33, where the needs of the investigation or enquiry so require, the public prosecutor or investigating judge may, for the sole purpose of installing or removing the technical means referred to in article 230-32, authorise by written decision the entry, including outside the hours provided for in article 59, in private premises intended or used for the storage of vehicles,…

In an emergency resulting from an imminent risk of evidence being destroyed or serious harm to persons or property, the operations mentioned in Article 230-32 may be set up or prescribed by a judicial police officer. The latter shall immediately inform, by any means, the public prosecutor or the investigating judge in the cases mentioned in articles 230-33 and 230-34. This magistrate may then order the release of the geolocation….

The examining magistrate or the judicial police officer appointed by him or authorised by the public prosecutor may request any qualified agent of a service, unit or body placed under the authority of the Minister of the Interior, the list of which shall be determined by decree, to install and remove the technical means referred to in l’article 230-32.

The operations provided for in this chapter shall be carried out under the supervision of the magistrate who authorised them or who authorised their continuation. The fact that these operations reveal offences other than those referred to in the decision of this magistrate shall not constitute a ground for invalidity of the incidental proceedings. The fact that these operations reveal offences other than those referred to in the decision of…

The judicial police officer or the judicial police agent acting under his responsibility shall draw up a report of each of the operations to set up the technical means mentioned in Article 230-32 and the operations to record location data. This report shall mention the date and time when the operation began and when it ended. The recordings are placed under closed seals.

The judicial police officer or agent acting under his or her responsibility shall describe or transcribe, in a report which shall be placed in the file, the recorded data which are useful for establishing the truth. The judicial police officer or agent acting under his or her responsibility shall describe or transcribe, in a report which shall be placed in the file, the recorded data which are useful for establishing…

Where, in an investigation concerning one of the crimes or offences falling within the scope of Articles 706-73 and 706-73-1, knowledge of this information is likely to seriously endanger the life or physical integrity of a person, the members of his family or his close relations and that it is neither useful for the determination of the truth nor essential for the exercise of the rights of the defence, the…

The person under investigation or the witness may, within ten days of being informed of the content of the geolocation operations carried out within the framework provided for in article 230-40, contest, before the president of the investigating chamber, the use of the procedure provided for in that same article. If he or she considers that the geolocation operations were not carried out properly, that the conditions set out in…