Contravention in French criminal law

In French criminal law, a contravention is the least serious among three categories of offenses. It includes non-criminal offenses, such as parking tickets, trespassing, minor violence, or destruction of property. The penalty is a fine stipulated by regulation, sometimes augmented with a supplementary penalty such as a remedial driving workshop.

Background

Criminal offenses (French: infraction) are divided into three categories, according to increasing severity: contravention, délit ^[a] and crime.^[b] The latter two categories are determined by the legislature, while contraventions are the responsibility of the executive branch. This tripartite division is matched by the courts responsible for enforcing criminal law: the Police court for contraventions; the Correctional court for délits; the cour d'assises for crimes.

Each type of offense has a court with jurisdiction (compétence) over it,^[1] and each type has a different statute of limitations^[fr] that applies to it;^[2] ten years for a crime, three years for a délit, and one year for a contravention.^[1] Limitation periods are longer for offenses against minors.^[3]^[4]

Definition

A τontravention is a non-criminal offense (such as a parking ticket)^[5] and is handled by the Police court (tribunal de police).^[5] They are mainly related to violations of traffic law,^[fr] and low-grade violence.^[6]

Examples: defamation, defacing or destruction of property; failure to respond to a summons; minor violence; trespassing on school property,^[1] or selling alcohol to minors.^[7]

Procedure

Contraventions are handled in Police court,^[5] and are tried by a single judge.^[8]

Classes

Contraventions are divided into five classes according to their severity,^[1] with class 1 being the least serious, and class 5 the most serious. The least serious offenses are also the most common ones, for example not wearing your seatbelt, failing to use your turn signal when required, speeding, and not having the proper papers with you while driving. Most contraventions are driving offenses, but there are others, such as not having proper permits for hunting, or wearing a veil in a public place.^[9]^[c]

Penalties

Contraventions are subject to fines based on written regulations, and are not determined by the judge. Fines for contraventions range from 38 euros for the least serious, up to 1,500 euros for class five, which is doubled for repeat offenders (récidive).^[9]

Fines (amende) are the chief method of punishment for contraventions, but may be accompanied by supplementary penalties (peine complémentaire), such as suspension of one's driving license, immobilization of the vehicle, obligatory safe-driving or citizenship workshop, or forfeiture of one's hunting license.^[9]

Types

Traffic offenses

The majority of traffic offenses are handled administratively and automatically (suspension of driver's license or adjustment of "points", in particular), but judges are sometimes required to issue fines.^[6] The fine incurred does not exceed €3,000.^[1]

Notes

^ Délit – Sometimes translated as felony in English sources, but not quite accurate, as a crime is also a felony. It should be particularly noted that the English word delict is a term from civil law not criminal law, and in common law systems, and thus is not a valid translation for the French délit.
^ Crime – Pronounced like the English word cream. Because of the three-way division of French infractions, this is not an exact synonym of the English word with the same spelling, as a crime involves only infractions punishable by a sentence of three years or more. The English word "crime" thus overlaps the meanings of both French terms crime, as well as délit.
^ Wearing a veil in public: see Laïcité (secularism in France).

References

Works cited

John Bell; Sophie Boyron; Simon Whittaker (27 March 2008). Principles of French Law. OUP Oxford. ISBN 0-19-876395-6. OCLC 38258056.
Elliott, Catherine (2001). French Criminal Law. Portland OR: Willan. ISBN 978-1-135-99307-8. OCLC 49494876.
Feuillet, Jordane (2021-06-21) [2019-11-19]. "Infractions pénales : Tout savoir sur les contraventions, délits & crimes" [Criminal penalties: everything you need to know about contraventions, délits & crimes]. Paris: Mon Expert du Droit. Retrieved 2024-10-03.

Jean, Jean-Paul (2010). Le système pénal [The penal system]. Repères (in French). La Decouverte. ISBN 978-2-7071-5414-9. OCLC 758870056.
French Ministry of Justice (2023). "Lexique | Justice.fr" [Glossary | Justice.fr]. Ministère de la Justice (in French).
French Ministry of Justice (4 December 2008). "L'infraction". Ministère de la Justice (in French). Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
French Ministry of Justice (16 December 2016). "La justice pénale en France" [Criminal justice in France]. Ministère de la Justice (in French). Retrieved 3 January 2023.
French Ministry of Justice (6 August 2008). "Les mots-clés de la Justice - Lexique" [Key words of Justice - Lexicon]. Ministère de la Justice (in French). Archived from the original on 31 March 2023.

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Doucet, Jean-Paul (11 April 2019). "Dictionnaire de droit criminel" [Dictionary of Criminal Law] (in French). Archived from the original on 7 January 2023.
Elliott, Catherine; Jeanpierre, Eric; Vernon, Catherine (2006). French Legal System (Second ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-1161-3. OCLC 70107160.
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Isom, David (16 November 2022), Legal System - French Legal Research Guide - Guides at Georgetown Law Library, Georgetown Law Library, retrieved 1 March 2023 see 'loi'
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[délit-1] Délit – Sometimes translated as felony in English sources, but not quite accurate, as a crime is also a felony. It should be particularly noted that the English word delict is a term from civil law not criminal law, and in common law systems, and thus is not a valid translation for the French délit.

[crime-2] Crime – Pronounced like the English word cream. Because of the three-way division of French infractions, this is not an exact synonym of the English word with the same spelling, as a crime involves only infractions punishable by a sentence of three years or more. The English word "crime" thus overlaps the meanings of both French terms crime, as well as délit.

[12] Wearing a veil in public: see Laïcité (secularism in France).

[FOOTNOTEMDLJ-Infrac2008-3] MDLJ-Infrac 2008.

[FOOTNOTEElliott2001233-4] Elliott 2001, p. 233.

[FOOTNOTEMDLJ-Lexique2008[httpwwwjusticegouvfrmots-clesmc_phtml_P]-5] MDLJ-Lexique 2008, P.

[FOOTNOTEJustice-Lexique[httpswwwjusticefrlexiqueletter_pPrescription_P]-6] Justice-Lexique, P.

[FOOTNOTEMDLJ-JPen2016-7] MDLJ-JPen 2016.

[FOOTNOTEJean20107-8] Jean 2010, p. 7.

[FOOTNOTEBell1998207-9] Bell 1998, p. 207.

[FOOTNOTEBell199843-10] Bell 1998, p. 43.

[FOOTNOTEFeuillet2021-11] Feuillet 2021.

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v t e Hierarchy of norms in French law
Constitutional block Bloc de constitutionnalité	Constitution of 1958 Declaration of the Rights of Man Preamble of the French Constitution of 1946 Charter for the Environment Fundamental principles recognized by the laws of the Republic Principles having constitutional status^[fr] Objective of constitutional value^[fr]
Bloc de conventionnalité ^[fr] Treaties and international agreements	European Union law European Convention on Human Rights Treaty
Bloc de légalité ^[fr] parliamentary or governmental laws	Organic law Ordinary law^[fr] Ratified ordonnance Règlement autonome ^[fr]
Règlements ^[fr] Executive branch regulations	Unratified ordonnance Décret Arrêté ^[fr]
Administrative acts^[fr] Circulars, directives, etc.	Circulars^[fr] Directives^[fr]
Hierarchy of norms^[fr] Sources of French law^[fr] General principles of French law