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Article D12 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure

When, in application of article 18 (third paragraph), a judicial police officer travels outside the territorial limits where he normally carries out his duties, he must give prior notice to the public prosecutor handling the investigation or to the investigating judge, as well as to the public prosecutor and the judicial police officer in charge of public security with territorial jurisdiction.

At the end of his operations, he keeps the latter informed of the results obtained.
At the end of his operations, he keeps the latter informed of the results obtained. He shall mention in his procedure the advice given and, where appropriate, the assistance he has received from the local police or gendarmerie service.

In accordance with the third paragraph of Article 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the police officer in charge of public security shall inform the local police or gendarmerie service.
In accordance with the provisions of the third paragraph of Article 18, it is not necessary to inform the magistrate when the transport takes place in a jurisdiction bordering that in which the officer carries out his duties. For the purposes of this paragraph, Paris and the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne are considered to be a single department.
When the public prosecutor in charge of the investigation or the examining magistrate has decided that territorial assistance is necessary, the criminal investigation police officer must, as soon as possible and as far as possible before the transport, notify a criminal investigation police officer exercising his duties in the district where he is to operate that he is going to call on his assistance; he must also provide him with the necessary details, particularly of time and place. He shall mention this advice in his procedure, as well as the assistance of the judicial police officer who assisted him.

When the investigations concern a fact that has given rise to the information provided for in the last paragraph of Article D. 3, the criminal investigation police officer who travels outside the territorial limits where he or she usually carries out his or her duties shall notify, as appropriate, the services under the responsibility of the national directorate of the criminal investigation police or the national directorate of the border police or the sub-directorate of the criminal investigation police of the general directorate of the national gendarmerie, except in the cases provided for in the third paragraph of this article.

Original in French 🇫🇷
Article D12

Lorsque, par application de l’article 18 (troisième alinéa), un officier de police judiciaire se transporte hors des limites territoriales où il exerce ses fonctions habituelles, il doit aviser préalablement le procureur de la République saisi de l’enquête ou le juge d’instruction, ainsi que le procureur de la République et l’officier de police judiciaire en charge de la sécurité publique territorialement compétents.


A l’issue de ses opérations, il tient ces derniers informés des résultats obtenus. Il mentionne dans sa procédure les avis donnés et, éventuellement, les concours qui lui ont été prêtés par le service local de police ou de gendarmerie.


Conformément aux dispositions du troisième alinéa de l’article 18, l’information du magistrat n’est pas nécessaire lorsque le transport s’effectue dans un ressort limitrophe à celui dans lequel l’officier exerce ses fonctions. Pour l’application du présent alinéa, Paris et les départements des Hauts-de-Seine, de Seine-Saint-Denis et du Val-de-Marne sont considérés comme un seul département.


Lorsque le procureur de la République saisi de l’enquête ou du juge d’instruction a décidé qu’une assistance territoriale est nécessaire, l’officier de police judiciaire doit, dans le plus bref délai et autant que possible avant son transport, aviser un officier de police judiciaire exerçant ses fonctions dans la circonscription où il doit opérer qu’il va recourir à son assistance ; il lui fournit en même temps les précisions indispensables, notamment de temps et de lieu. Il mentionne cet avis dans sa procédure ainsi que le concours de l’officier de police judiciaire l’ayant assisté.


Lorsque les investigations portent sur un fait ayant donné lieu à l’information prévue au dernier alinéa de l’article D. 3, l’officier de police judiciaire qui se transporte hors des limites territoriales où il exerce ses fonctions habituelles avise, selon les cas, les services relevant de la direction nationale de la police judiciaire ou de la direction nationale de la police aux frontières ou de la sous-direction de la police judiciaire de la direction générale de la gendarmerie nationale, sauf dans les cas prévus par le troisième alinéa du présent article.

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