34

The BBC states rather briefly that

France began its lockdown on Tuesday morning, requiring citizens to carry official paperwork stating why they were not at home.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner told Europe 1 radio on Thursday: "The 15-day period may be extended. If necessary, the government will renew it."

He said that 4,095 fines had been handed out to transgressors and 70,000 control checks made since Wednesday morning. The fine is €135 ($150; £123).

Besides the fact that the fine amount seems to be a trifle for the (somewhat) rich, so could be easily paid/ignored by a good segment of the population, is it technically true that all French citizens now need official papers with a reason why they are out of their home?

Community
  • 1
Fizz
  • 57,051
  • 18
  • 175
  • 291

1 Answers1

71

Yes, it's true (but imprecise). All residents of France (this is unrelated to citizenship) need to carry an authorization and the police is checking these authorizations. The authorization is a sworn statement (“déclaration sur l'honneur”), i.e. a self-statement, or a declaration by the employer. What's not clear in this short statement from the BBC is that this is not government-issued paperwork: you or your employer has to fill the form, you don't need any kind of government stamp.

The applicable law is décret n° 2020-260 du 16 mars 2020. I'll translate the main disposition:

In order to prevent the propagation of the covid-19 virus, until 31 March 2020, no person may travel outside their domicile, excepting for the following purposes while respecting general measures to prevent the propagation of the virus and avoiding any grouping of persons:

  1. Trips between one's domicile and a place where one carries out professional activity and professional trips that cannot be deferred.
  2. Trips to buy supplies that are necessary for professional activity and to buy basic necessities in establishments whose activity remains authorized (…).
  3. Trips for health reasons.
  4. Trips for essential family reasons, to assist vulnerable persons or for child care.
  5. Brief trips close to the domicile related to individual physical activity, excluding any collective sports, and for the needs of pets.

Persons who wish to benefit from these exemptions must, during their trips outside their domicile, carry a document justifying that the trip is within the purview of one of these exceptions.

Décret n° 2020-264 du 17 mars 2020 sets a fine. An “amende forfaitaire” (article 2) for “contraventions de la 4e classe” is “135 euros maximum”. Note that regardless of the fine, being out without a valid purpose is illegal and the police may force you to go back home (so it's not a €135 day pass).

There's a more detailed official information page (2020-03-19 08:30 version), prominently linked from the Interior ministry home page (archive link). Only a very short summary is currently available in English on the French government site.

As of March 17th at noon, outings will only be authorized, with a certificate, to:

  • Go to work, if remote working is not possible;
  • Go to your local grocery store;
  • Go to a medical appointment;
  • Take your children to daycare or to take care of an elderly person;
  • To work out close to your home.

Download your personal certificate here

Download the employer's certifcate here

As indicated in the official information page linked above, the personal certificate must be printed out or written out on normal paper, and you must fill a separate one for each trip. The employer certificate is valid for the whole duration.

Community
  • 1
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
  • 3,182
  • 1
  • 26
  • 28
  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/105885/discussion-on-answer-by-gilles-so-stop-being-evil-are-all-french-citizens-who). – Oddthinking Mar 23 '20 at 17:42
  • 1
    You translated an older, now slightly obsolete, version of the *attestation* -- e.g. the newer one specifies limits on physical activity ("for one hour daily and within a maximum radius of one kilometre around the house"), and you must be signed with the time of day as well as the date. As well as this *attestation* you must also have your government-issued identity card. And the €135 is for a first offence, which may be increased for a second or fourth offence. – ChrisW Mar 26 '20 at 09:46
  • @ChrisW I am sure the police will demand to see ID (they are already prone to do that in regular times) but the truth is that there is no legal basis for it. The decrees do not mandate it and neither does the law. It is not mandatory to even hold a government issued identification document in France. – Relaxed Apr 11 '20 at 12:02
  • @Relaxed One of the FAQs on [this page](https://www.gouvernement.fr/info-coronavirus) says, "***L’attestation implique qu’on doive toujours sortir avec une pièce d’identité ?** Il est obligatoire de disposer de sa pièce d’identité pendant les déplacements afin que les contrôles puissent être réalisés par les forces de l’ordre.*" – ChrisW Apr 11 '20 at 14:30
  • @Relaxed See also this page, [Contrôle d'identité](https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1036), which agrees with [this answer from 2014](https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/a/996/9493) and which applies to regular non-COVID times -- i.e. if you can't identify yourself they can arrest you, have you call witnesses to identify you and/or a magistrate, take fingerprints. – ChrisW Apr 11 '20 at 14:41
  • @ChrisW No, they cannot “arrest you”, you haven't committed any offense, unlike in the Netherlands where you can be fined merely for not carrying ID or Germany where it's mandatory to hold either an ID card or passport. – Relaxed Apr 11 '20 at 17:01
  • In France, what the police is allowed to do is to keep you for up to 4 hours to ascertain your identity. It's not a punishment and they shouldn't use it if you have other means to establish who you are, including, indeed, witnesses. The reason for this awkward mention of witnesses is precisely that having government-sanctioned ID is *not* mandatory. A careful reading of service-public.fr confirms this as [I explained in another answer to the same question](https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/994/if-asked-for-id-in-france-by-the-police-as-an-eu-national-what-is-considered-va). – Relaxed Apr 11 '20 at 17:02
  • Regarding the coronavirus FAQ, it's simply creating an obligation out of thin air, as the police regularly do in France. It's still legally baseless. – Relaxed Apr 11 '20 at 17:04
  • @Relaxed "Arrest" was my translation of *retenir* i.e. to retain or hold -- "L'officier de police judiciaire peut retenir, sur place ou dans ses locaux, une personne dont il cherche à établir l'identité." -- IOW they can arrest you on the spot or take you to the police station. Arresting someone isn't the same as "charging" someone with a crime. – ChrisW Apr 11 '20 at 17:08
  • @ChrisW Only if they don't know who you are, not merely because you don't hold a specific document. If you read service-public.fr, you must have noticed how it conspicuously does *not* state that any specific government-issued document is mandatory and dances around the whole issue. – Relaxed Apr 11 '20 at 17:10
  • `It's still legally baseless.` Why would I believe your saying that, instead of my believing what's published on `https://www.gouvernement.fr/info-coronavirus`? – ChrisW Apr 11 '20 at 17:12
  • Because it does not cite any legal basis. I already explained in detail what the law actually says in France and the *décrêt* of March 16 and March 23 have no other provisions. It's not up to some FAQ redactor to make up rules as they go. Service-public.fr always quotes the relevant legal texts and did not state what you thought it stated because they know that's not true and they are very careful in what they wrote. – Relaxed Apr 11 '20 at 17:13
  • It's a common mistake they really want you to make but since you were fooled by that, maybe that's a reason to believe me on this one too? – Relaxed Apr 11 '20 at 17:16
  • @Relaxed Look, they always have a right to control your identity, and they are doing so especially now. So you're expected to carry identification -- and if you don't, that's not illegal but they may detain you. Your point was about whether it's a crime in and of itself to not carry proof of identity -- and mine was about the official paperwork you should carry to go about your business, i.e. that you need or may be asked for identification as well as an attestation. I said it in case someone wants to know so they can comply, I don't feel "fooled". – ChrisW Apr 11 '20 at 17:56
  • 1
    @ChrisW “they always have a right to control your identity” No, as Relaxed writes they don't, legally speaking. Loitering while black is not a crime, according to the law, even if it might get you arrested. But please take this discussion elsewhere. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Apr 11 '20 at 18:12
  • I referenced official government web sites. Another is https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A13952 which says, "*Attention : il est obligatoire de disposer de sa pièce d'identité pendant les déplacements afin que les contrôles puissent être réalisés par les forces de l'ordre.*". – ChrisW Apr 11 '20 at 18:24
  • 1
    @ChrisW AFAIK this is statement not backed up by any actual law. Why would the normal ways to justify one's identity not be sufficient? However it'll be up to the *cour de cassation* to decide exactly what the law implies, if a case is brought to it, and that will take years. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Apr 11 '20 at 19:23
  • I noticed one news story a while back, when this started, of someone being fined for having their attestation but not having their identity on them. Secondly I saw [this story](https://actu17.fr/confinement-il-invite-les-policiers-chez-lui-pour-justifier-de-son-identite-ils-decouvrent-une-radio-police-disparue/) today -- of someone who invited the police into his house -- which suggests that "the normal way" might still be applicable. In either case (a "new" immediate fine or a "normal" extended control), if you don't carry identity you might be stopped, apparently. – ChrisW Apr 11 '20 at 19:37