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Article 118 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

If, during the course of the investigation, it transpires that the acts of which the person under investigation is accused under a correctional charge actually constitute a crime, the examining magistrate shall notify the person, after informing him or her of his or her intention and taking any observations from him or her and his or her lawyer, that a criminal charge is to be substituted for the charge initially…

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Article 119 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

The public prosecutor may attend the questioning, hearings and confrontations of the accused person, the civil party and the assisted witness. Whenever he has informed the examining magistrate of his intention to attend, the examining magistrate’s clerk must notify him by simple note, at the latest the day before the questioning.

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Article 120 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

The investigating judge directs the questioning, confrontations and hearings. The public prosecutor and the lawyers for the parties and the assisted witness may ask questions or make brief observations. The investigating judge determines, if necessary, the order of the interventions and may put an end to them when he considers himself sufficiently informed. He may object to questions that are likely to prejudice the proper conduct of the information or…

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Article 120-1 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

Where the person under investigation or the assisted witness is implicated by several persons, they may request, in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 82-1 or the last paragraph of l’article 113-3, to be confronted separately with each of them. The examining magistrate decides on these requests in accordance with the second paragraph of article 82-1. The refusal of a request for individual confrontation may not be based solely…

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Article 121 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

The minutes of questioning and confrontation are drawn up in the forms provided for in articles 106 and 107. If an interpreter is used, the provisions of Article 102 shall apply. If the person under investigation is deaf, the examining magistrate shall automatically appoint a sign language interpreter or any qualified person who has mastered a language or method of communicating with the deaf to assist him/her during the hearing….

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Article 122 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

The examining magistrate may, depending on the case, issue a warrant for search, appearance, bringing in or arrest. The liberty and custody judge may issue a committal order. A search warrant may be issued for a person in respect of whom there are one or more plausible grounds for suspecting that he has committed or attempted to commit an offence. It may not be issued in respect of a person…

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Article 123 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

Every warrant shall specify the identity of the person against whom it is issued; it shall be dated and signed by the magistrate who issued it and shall bear his seal. Warrants for bringing, committing, arresting and searching shall also mention the nature of the acts imputed to the person, their legal classification and the applicable articles of law. The warrant to appear is served by a bailiff on the…

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Article 125 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

The examining magistrate shall immediately question the person who is the subject of a summons to appear. A person arrested under a summons to appear shall be questioned under the same conditions. However, if the questioning cannot be immediate, the person may be held by the police or gendarmerie for a maximum of twenty-four hours following his arrest before being brought before the investigating judge or, failing this, the president…

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Article 126 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

Any person arrested by virtue of a summons, who has been held for more than twenty-four hours without being questioned, is considered to be arbitrarily detained. The Articles 432-4 to 432-6 of the Penal Code are applicable to magistrates or civil servants who ordered or knowingly tolerated this arbitrary detention.

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