Paragraph 3: Operation of the committee provided for in article 16-2

The chairman of the commission provided for in Article 16-2 and his alternate shall be appointed annually by the bureau of the Cour de cassation from among the members of the commission. The secretary of the committee is appointed by the first president of the Cour de cassation from among the court registrars of that court.

The appeal provided for in Article 16-2 shall be made by means of a request signed by the judicial police officer and delivered or addressed to the secretary of the commission, who shall issue a receipt. This application shall contain all relevant information about the decision to suspend or withdraw the authorisation.

Upon receipt of the request, the secretary of the commission forwards a copy to the public prosecutor at the Cour de cassation and to the public prosecutor who took the decision to suspend or withdraw authorisation. The applicant’s judicial police officer file is sent to the commission’s secretariat together with a reasoned report from the public prosecutor who took the decision.

Within fifteen days of receiving the request, the chairman shall assign the report to one of the members of the commission.

The committee shall carry out or have carried out, either by one of its members or by rogatory commission, all useful investigative measures, in particular, if necessary, the hearing of the claimant who may be assisted by counsel of his choice. The Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation shall lodge his submissions with the secretariat at least twenty days before the date of the hearing.

After the presentation of the report by the magistrate in charge, the judicial police officer may call witnesses whose names and addresses must have been given to the secretariat of the commission at least five days before the date of the hearing. The public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation develops his conclusions. If they are present, the claimant and his counsel are heard.

The commission may either annul the decision or confirm it, or convert the withdrawal into a suspension or reduce the duration of the suspension. If the applicant is not present or represented when the commission’s decision is made, the decision shall be notified to him or her within forty-eight hours of its pronouncement by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. The judicial police officer’s file, together with a copy of…

Costs incurred before the commission, including the claimant’s travel expenses, are treated in the same way as criminal, correctional and police court costs. They are borne by the State.

The commission’s decision may be referred to the Court of Cassation for breach of the law.