Decree no. 95-240 of March 3, 1995 implementing law no. 94-665 of August 4, 1994 on the use of the French language.
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of State, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Economy and the Minister of Culture and Francophony,
Having regard to the French Penal Code, and in particular article R. 610-1 ;
Having regard to the Code of Criminal Proceedings;
Having regard to the Labor Code;
Having regard to Law no. 94-665 of August 4, 1994 on the use of the French language;
The Conseil d'Etat (Interior section) has been heard,
TITLE I : Legal sanctions
Article 1
I. - Failure to use the French language in accordance with the conditions set forth in the aforementioned law of August 4, 1994 on the use of the French language :
1° In the designation, supply, presentation, instructions for use or use, description of the scope and conditions of guarantee of a good, product or service, as well as in invoices and receipts;
2° In all written, spoken or audiovisual advertising,
is punishable by the penalty notice laid down for 4th class offences.
II. - Failure to use the French language for any inscription or announcement intended to inform the public, affixed or made on the public highway, in a place open to the public or in a means of public transport, is punishable by the same penalty.
III. - The fact of presenting the French version in a way that is not as legible, audible or intelligible as the presentation in a foreign language of the mentions, advertisements, inscriptions or announcements referred to in I and II of the present article is punishable by the same penalty.
IV. - In the event of a sentence for one of the offences provided for in the present article, the court may apply articles 132-66 to 132-70 of the French penal code.
Article 2
Subject to the exceptions provided for in article 6 of the aforementioned law of August 4, 1994, any person of French nationality organizing an event, conference or congress is liable to a penalty notice for a 4th class offence:
1° Prohibit participants from expressing themselves in French;
2° Distribute documents to participants before and during the meeting to present the program, without accompanying them with a French version;
3° Failing to provide at least one summary in French of preparatory or working documents distributed to participants, and failing to include at least one summary in French of texts or speeches presented in a foreign language in published proceedings;
4° Not to make provision for translation in the cases specified in the fourth paragraph of article 6 of the aforementioned law.
Article 3
Failure to provide an employee with a French-language version of a document containing obligations towards the employee or provisions that the employee needs to be aware of in order to carry out his or her work is punishable by the penalty notice stipulated for 4th class offences.
Article 4
Artificial persons may be held criminally liable, under the conditions laid down in Article 121-2 of the French Penal Code, for the infringements of Articles 1 to 3.
Artificial persons are liable to a penalty notice in accordance with article 131-41 of the French Penal Code.
The schemes set out in articles 132-66 to 132-70 of the French Penal Code are applicable in the event of a sentence against an artificial person.
TITLE II: Levies
Article 5
Once they have identified the goods or products in question and presumed the infringement of article 1-I of the present decree, the agents designated in article 16 of the aforementioned law of August 4, 1994 shall take a sample representative of a batch or group of such goods or products.
Article 6
All samples taken are placed under seal. These seals shall include an identification label bearing the following particulars:
1° The nature of the good or product in question, from which a copy has been taken;
2° The date, time and place where the sample was taken;
3° The name, business name and address of the person from whom the sample was taken; if the sample was taken en route, the names and addresses of the consignors and consignees;
4° The order number of the sample;
5° The signature of the agent(s) who took the sample.
Article 7
As soon as the copy has been sealed, the agent(s) designated by article 16 of the aforementioned law of August 4, 1994, if in the presence of the owner or rights holder of the goods or product in question, must give formal notice to declare the value of the copy taken. The owner or rights holder may justify this value by any means, and in particular by means of accounting documents.
Competent officials may consider the value declared by the owner or rights holder to be excessive, and carry out their own appraisal of the sample taken.
A receipt is issued to the owner or rights holder of the goods or products in question, stating the nature of the copy taken and the value declared or, where appropriate, estimated by the agent(s).
In the event of a sample being taken en route, the representative of the transport company receives a receipt indicating the nature of the good or product sampled, as well as the value declared or, where appropriate, the value estimated by the agent(s).
Article 8
The sealed copy is attached to the statement of offence, drawn up without delay.
The statement of offence shall include the following information:
1° The surname, first names and position of the officer(s) who took the sample;
2° The date, time and place where the sample was taken;
3° The surname, first names, profession and address of the person from whom the sample was taken; the name and address of the sender and recipient, if the sample was taken en route;
4° The order number of the sample;
5° The nature of the goods or products in question, from which a sample was taken;
6° The circumstances in which the sample was taken, the size of the batch or group of implicated products or goods;
7° Any observations deemed useful by the agent(s) who took the sample;
8° Declarations, where appropriate, by the owner or rights holder of the goods or products in question, or by the representative of the transport company;
9° Indication that the statement of offence and the sealed copy have been forwarded to the state prosecutor and to the interested party within five days;
10° The signature of the officer(s) who took the sample.
TITLE III: Approval of associations
Article 9
Any duly registered association whose statutory purpose is to defend the French language may demand the approval provided for in article 2-14 of the Code of Criminal Proceedings, provided that it meets the following conditions:
1° It has been in existence for two years from the date of its declaration;
2° A sufficient number of paid-up members, either individually or through federated associations;
3° Effective activity to defend the French language while respecting other languages and cultures. This activity is evidenced in particular by the nature and importance of events or publications;
4° The disinterested nature of activities.
Article 10
Requests for approval or renewal should be addressed to the Delegation Générale à la Langue Française. The application must include :
1° A copy of the association's articles of association ;
2° The number of members;
3° A list of the members of its governing bodies;
4° The latest moral and financial report;
5° The accounts for the last financial year.
When the application is complete, a receipt is issued. Approval or refusal is notified within four months of the date of issue of the receipt. Rejection decisions must be substantiated.
Article 11
Approval is granted by joint order of the Minister of Justice and the Minister for the French-speaking world. It is published in the Journal officiel de la République française.
Approval is granted for three years. It may be renewed.
Article 12
When several associations, at least one of which is approved, federate, the condition of seniority at the time of the approval demand, provided for in article 9 (1°) above, is not required.
Article 13
Approval may be suspended or revoked by joint order of the Minister of Justice and the Minister responsible for the French-speaking world when the association no longer meets one of the conditions which justified approval. The association must first be given formal notice to present its observations.
Article 14
Each year, approved associations send two copies of their moral and financial reports to the Délégation Générale à la Langue Française.
TITLE IV: Provisions applicable to international transport
Article 15
Modified by Decree 98-563 1998-07-01 art. 1, art. 2 JORF July 8, 1998.
When legal persons governed by public law or private persons carrying out a public service mission, transporters or transport infrastructure managers, who carry out all or part of their activity in the field of international transport, provide translations of the inscriptions they affix or the announcements they make, the obligation, laid down in the first paragraph of article 4 of the aforementioned law of August 4, 1994, that these translations be at least two in number is not applicable in the following cases:
1. For impromptu inscriptions or announcements concerning safety or emergency ;
2. For inscriptions or announcements affixed or made in transport infrastructures located in a border department, if the only language of translation is that of the country bordering this department;
3. For inscriptions or advertisements affixed or made in means of transport, if the only language of translation is that of the country of departure or destination of the means of transport;
4. For inscriptions or advertisements affixed or made in means of transport crossing the national territory without stopping or making only technical stops on the national territory, without embarking or disembarking passengers;
5. For inscriptions integrated into the structure of the means of transport used;
6. For written and oral notices to skippers in border areas;
7. Until December 31, 2001 for non-recorded announcements made directly by agents;
8. Until December 31, 2003 for inscriptions intended to inform the public and affixed on a permanent support in transport infrastructures.
Article 15-1
Created by Decree 98-563 1998-07-01 art. 2 JORF July 8, 1998.
Until December 31, 2003, the report mentioned in article 22 of the aforementioned law of August 4, 1994 shall include information on the application of the provisions of article 15 of the present decree.
TITLE V: Miscellaneous provisions
Article 16
Modified by Decree 98-563 1998-07-01 art. JORF July 8, 1998.
The provisions of II and III of Article 1 shall be effective within six months of the date of publication of this decree.
Article 17
The Minister of State, Minister of Social Affairs, Health and the City, the Minister of State, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Economy, the Minister of Labor, Employment and Vocational Training, the Minister of Culture and Francophony, the Minister of the Budget and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries are each responsible for the execution of this decree, which will be published in the Journal officiel de la République française.