What is the CRPC?
The CRPC (appearance on prior admission of guilt, or comparution sur reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité) is a simplified criminal procedure that makes it possible to try an adult who has admitted the facts of which he or she is accused quickly.
The CRPC applies only to misdemeanours (délits), that is to say all offences for which the penalty incurred is imprisonment of less than 10 years, such as theft, fraud, breach of trust, etc.
Certain misdemeanours are nevertheless excluded: serious attacks on the physical integrity of persons, involuntary homicide, press offences, political offences, and offences committed by minors.
It makes it possible to:
- avoid the traditional trial before the criminal court (tribunal correctionnel)
- benefit from an accelerated procedure
- relieve congestion in the courts.
How does a CRPC take place before the public prosecutor and then the court?
1. The referral before the public prosecutor (procureur de la République): negotiating the penalty with the public prosecutor.
- Summoning of the defendant
The person implicated (mis en cause) is summoned before the public prosecutor, either by a summons (citation) or by a summons handed over by the police or the gendarmerie.
Following police custody (garde à vue), the person implicated may also be brought before the prosecutor, that is to say taken directly to the court to be presented to the public prosecutor. This is known as the referral (déférement).
The defendant must be assisted by a lawyer throughout the procedure.
- The public prosecutor’s proposed penalty
The public prosecutor proposes a penalty, which must respect certain limits (for example, imprisonment may not exceed three years or half of the legally prescribed maximum).
- Confidential meeting with the lawyer
The person implicated then meets with his or her lawyer so that the lawyer can advise him or her in light of his or her personal situation, the facts of the case and the proposed penalty.
- Negotiation with the public prosecutor
The public prosecutor, the person implicated and his or her lawyer negotiate together.
The public prosecutor first checks the person’s identity and reminds him or her of the facts of which he or she is accused and the proposed penalty. He or she then asks the person implicated whether he or she admits the facts. The lawyer may then explain why he or she considers that the proposed penalty should be reviewed, in particular in view of the personal situation of the person implicated, and a negotiation between the parties follows.
Three outcomes are possible:
- refusing the proposed penalty: in that case, the person implicated will be tried by the criminal court. This may be because the person implicated considers the proposed penalty too severe, or because procedural nullities have been identified in the file which suggest that the procedure will be annulled before the criminal court.
- accepting the proposed penalty: the case will then be called at the approval hearing (audience d’homologation) before the judge.
- asking for a 10-day period for reflection: the person implicated will then be summoned for a later date. In practice, this is rare because, when a person implicated asks for such a period, the public prosecutor may refer the matter to the judge of liberties and detention (juge des libertés et de la détention, JLD) to ask that the person be placed in pre-trial detention, under judicial supervision or under electronic tag pending the outcome of the procedure.
2. The approval hearing before the court sitting with a single judge
The approval hearing is held before a single judge who:
- checks the identity of the person implicated and the facts of which he or she is accused
- checks that the person implicated admits the facts and accepts the penalty
- gives the floor to the lawyer of the person implicated so that he or she can explain the negotiated penalty and ask the judge to approve it
- The judge then has two options:
- Approve the penalty (homologuer), that is to say validate it. The judge then issues an approval order.
- Refuse the penalty, in which case the person implicated will be sent before a criminal court to be tried. This is in practice infrequent.
What is the role of the lawyer in the CRPC procedure?
Assistance by a lawyer is compulsory throughout the procedure.
The lawyer’s role is essential:
- preparing the file and advising the client,
- advising the client on the options available (CRPC vs. a hearing before the criminal court), the proportionality of the penalty and whether it is advisable to accept the proposed penalty
- setting the strategy for negotiating the penalty
- negotiating the penalty with the public prosecutor
The lawyer ensures that the procedure is fair and that the proposed penalty remains proportionate to the client’s situation.
What penalties can be proposed in a CRPC?
The public prosecutor may propose several types of penalty depending on the nature of the offence, such as:
- a fine,
- imprisonment with or without a suspended sentence (sursis), with or without adjustment,
- an additional penalty (citizenship course, professional ban, etc.),
- community service (travail d’intérêt général)
The penalty or penalties proposed generally take into account the defendant’s situation.
The public prosecutor cannot propose more than 3 years’ imprisonment or more than half of the maximum penalty incurred for the offence.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the CRPC?
Advantages of the CRPC
- Speed of the procedure
- No uncertainty as to the penalty imposed, since it is negotiated in advance with the public prosecutor
- Confidentiality of the negotiation phase with the public prosecutor, since this negotiation is not public
- No public debate on the facts. At the hearing, the judge mentions only the offences and does not go into the details of the facts, which protects reputation
Disadvantages of the CRPC
- Obligation to admit in full all the offences alleged
- No debate on guilt
- Entry on the criminal record
Does the CRPC result in an entry on the criminal record?
The CRPC results in an entry on the criminal record (casier judiciaire), like any criminal conviction.
This entry appears on Extract No. 2 of the criminal record (bulletin n° 2), which is accessible to certain administrations and employers.
The lawyer may request an exemption from entry of the conviction on the criminal record. However, such a request must be reasoned and justified by professional considerations. The judge has the power to refuse the request for exemption from entry.
Is it possible to appeal following a CRPC?
The convicted person has 10 days from the decision to appeal against the approval order.
If the convicted person is the only one to appeal and the public prosecutor does not appeal, the Court of Appeal cannot increase the penalty validated at the approval hearing.
Can the victim claim compensation in a CRPC?
The victim is normally informed that a CRPC procedure is being implemented so that he or she can join the proceedings as a civil party (partie civile) at the approval hearing and claim damages. If he or she is present at the hearing, he or she will be able to give evidence and, above all, set out in detail his or her claims for compensation.
If the victim cannot be present at the hearing, he or she can join the proceedings as a civil party and ask the Court to order the offender to pay damages.
The victim may be assisted by a lawyer if he or she wishes.
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