Chapter I: Provisions applicable to natural persons

A pardon may only be applied for in court, during the convicted person’s lifetime, by the latter or, if he or she is banned, by his or her legal representative; in the event of death and if the legal conditions are met, the application may be followed by his or her spouse or by his or her ascendants or descendants and even made by them, but only within a period…

An application for rehabilitation may only be made after a period of five years for those sentenced to a criminal penalty, three years for those sentenced to a correctional penalty and one year for those sentenced to a contraventional penalty. This period runs, for those sentenced to a fine, from the day on which the sentence became irrevocable and, for those sentenced to a custodial penalty, from the day of…

The convicts who are in a state of legal recidivism, those who, after having obtained the rehabilitation, incurred a new sentence, those who, condemned contradictorily or by contumacy to a criminal sentence, prescribed against the execution of the sentence, are admitted to ask for their rehabilitation only after a period of ten years elapsed since their release or since the prescription. However, repeat offenders who have not served any criminal…

The convicted person must, except in the case of prescription, justify payment of the fine and damages or the remission made to him. Failing this justification, he must establish that he has undergone the time of judicial constraint determined by law or that the Treasury has waived this means of enforcement. If he is convicted of fraudulent bankruptcy, he must prove payment of the bankruptcy liabilities in capital, interest and…

If since the offence the convicted person has rendered eminent services to the country, the application for rehabilitation is not subject to any condition of time or completion of sentence. In this case, the court may grant rehabilitation even if the fine and damages have not been paid.

The convicted person shall address the application for rehabilitation to the public prosecutor of his current residence or, if he lives abroad, to the public prosecutor of his last residence in France or, failing that, to the public prosecutor of the place of conviction. This application shall specify: 1° The date of the conviction; 2° The places where the convicted person has resided since his release. .

The public prosecutor obtains all relevant information from the various places where the sentenced person may have stayed. He also takes the opinion of the sentence enforcement judge.

The public prosecutor shall be issued with: 1° A copy of the sentencing judgments; 2° An extract from the register of places of detention where the sentence was served stating the convicted person’s conduct; 3° Bulletin No. 1 of the criminal record. He shall forward the documents with his opinion to the public prosecutor. .

The matter shall be referred to the court by the public prosecutor. The applicant may submit any relevant documents directly to the court.

The court shall rule within two months on the submissions of the public prosecutor, the party or his lawyer heard or duly summoned.