2003-02-20

Legal handbook G8 Evian 2003

Blocking borders:
Borders may be blocked before an international event but only under specific circumstances. Clearly, mass transport is more likely to be blocked than individual border crossings. Collective border-crossing operations can be an interesting tactical option to help people who would not otherwise be permitted to cross a border (people without valid identity papers and others) through intensive mobilization. The issue is then establishing sufficient strength to avoid individual checks. The French authorities are entitled to refuse entry to any alien whose presence is considered a threat to public order; to any alien who has been banned from entering France; or who has previously been deported. N.B. Refusal may be on administrative rather than judicial grounds and therefore neither published nor explained. However, anyone refused entry must be communicated in writing and copy given the person concerned. If you are refused entry, you must imperatively obtain this document in order to challenge the grounds on which you were refused entry. You are entitled to inform a person of your choosing that you have been refused entry. We advise you in this case to call the Legal Team on... . Entry refusal is pronounced by the authorities with immediate effect, without judicial hearing. However, entry refusal cannot under any circumstances lead to compulsory repatriation before a period of 24 hours has lapsed. If you are not formally refused entry, you cannot be held at the border for more than four hours and you may thereafter enter into French territory. Remember that, if you are a citizen of a Schengen Agreement country, you are entitled to enter France freely, except on grounds of public disturbance although the law stipulates that unless you can show you are a French citizen, you may be required to possess proof of identity.

In a demonstration:
Come as a group, leave as a group, stay in a group and stay alert. Even if you have chosen to attend a demonstration alone, try and hook up with others during the demonstration and stay with those people. As far as authorized demonstrations are concerned, either the organizers or the police may decide to call an end to the demonstration and order dispersion. Sometimes, the demonstrators may then decide to continue. The demonstration is then no longer an official one and participants must manage themselves. Make sure you move in good order - keep together and keep moving - and avoid entrapment (in a cul-de-sac surrounded by police cordons). Do not remain or leave alone. Most arrests occur at such times. Learn to distinguish the various types of law enforcement officials: The CRS (riot police), ordinary national police companies and "gardes mobiles" (military police) wear uniforms. Their job is to maintain order and ensure the demonstration disperses in an orderly fashion. The "Brigade Anti-Criminelle" may either wear uniforms or civilian clothing. They are cowboys responsible for rapid intervention operations and brutal arrests. There are in addition people known as "Public Security Agents" ("Agents de Sécurité Publique") whose job is to assess risks, talk to demonstrators, attempts control and negotiate. They are often confused with the political police ("Renseignements Généraux") but they are a different body and they do not work covertly. The Renseignements Généraux (known as "Les RGs") have no uniforms. They are a political police force. Their function is monitoring militant groups and political events.

The various types of undercover (civilian clothing) policemen are entitled to arrest you, though in principle they are meant to wear an armband and let you know, in one way or another, that they belong to the police. They may omit to do so, which provides grounds for dropping charges.

Beware of still and video cameras. The images may be used as evidence against you.

Be aware of the fact that in order to press charges against specific persons on grounds of property damage and various forms sabotage, the police may collect fingerprints and DNA samples on the spot. For instance, when some GM crops were destroyed in the Maine-et-Loire (West of France) in September 2000, a few drops of blood were found in the field and this led to a DNA search. Take care of leaving fingerprints (wear gloves) and, in extreme cases, of cigarette ends and other clues that may lead to charges. Be equipped to mask your face (this is not officially illegal in France) throughout the demonstration or when finding yourself in circumstances conducive to arrest (graffiti, wall-flyer posting and so on). Also, prvide yourself with a change of clothes or a quick change of appearance, in case your clothes show traces of potentially criminal activity (paint for example). After a demonstration, the police are liable to track down participants according to appearance, or clothing descriptions, and they may very well make arrests in adjacent streets, or some hours after a demonstration.

Police charges may be pressed at any time. Individual arrests may be performed at any time. Even where the demonstration is authorized. Their function is to disperse demonstrators, to cause fear, so that the demonstration is dislocated. Do not panic. Where possible, form a chain. Maintain solidarity with other demonstrators, especially people identified by the police or people unable to run fast enough. Police behaviour is entirely arbitrary. It is often possible, where numbers are sufficient and where people are sufficiently well-organized, to release someone during the course of an arrest. It is important to keep the situation under control in order to avoid further arrests. If someone is stopped beside where you find yourself, ask them to shout their name and nationality out and transmit the information to the Legal Team responsible for helping people prepare a defence strategy. The person's friends should also be informed. If necessary, be prepared to make enquiries at the police station yourself. You should also tell the person's friends and the Legal Team whether you can provide evidence about the arrest in case of trial. Any information you have concerning arrests is helpful to the Legal Team (number arrested, circumstances of arrest, precise time and place). You must however guard against rumour, particularly in case of panic. We prefer eye-witness accounts. If someone tells you something, tell them to contact us themselves. You can also visit the Legal Tent or send less urgent information by the Internet at this address....

When you decide to attend a demonstration, a few elementary security precautions should be observed. Firstly, check that your friends are all present and aware you are leaving. For these purposes, it is possible to constitute a group before or during a demonstration, and to exchange names and nationalities of all those involved. There is a danger of being stopped and questioned in the area around the demonstration but also whilst using public transport. Do not loudly brag about what you did or about what you know other people have done. Try not to mention names. You could be "caught red-handed" at any moment.

If you are wounded and need to go to hospital, be prudent. In case of police brutality during an arrest, even in case of intimidating behaviour on the part of the police, it is possible to sue. This involves sending a registered letter to the public prosecutor ("Procureur de la République")) in order to make sure that your complaint is properly registered. Suing the police is a necessary step when accused of bodily harm ("coups et blessures"), refusing to submit ("rebellion") or contempt ("outrage"). It can also be adopted as a tactic by people subject to police brutality, but in that case there is very little chance of success and a great deal of determination is needed to prod the courts into action.

Before participating in collective action:
Try to find out what is planned before you go. Certain types of collective action lead almost automatically to identity checks, others less so. Do not take your address book. Remember possession of a weapon (including penknife or other object that might be used as a weapon) and drug possession are chargeable offences. Take some form of identification and learn the Legal Team telephone number by heart or keep it on your person, perhaps written on your arm.

Occupations:
Occupying an office or an official building inevitably provides the authorities with a motive for charging certain individuals, (for example, at the moment of entry). It is advisable that anyone attracting attention at such a time should either discreetly leave or at least change their clothes in order to reduce visible identifying marks. The others should be particularly careful to watch what happens to such people during the whole period the action lasts. Again, if the building is forcibly evacuated and if people are then arrested, it is important to control the course of events and restrain police violence by adopting suitable collective tactics. If participants have been arrested, the others must take these arrests into account in deciding what to do next, carefully avoiding doing anything which might worsen the situation of those arrested. A refusal to leave as long as those arrested have not been released can sometimes produce results. Here again, it is important to take time for collective debate, even outside the building, and not give in to panic.

Arrest:
Usually, during occupations, the whole group is arrested as a group. This is the most desirable outcome (if arrests are unavoidable that is!), making sure that no one involved is treated as a separate case, and therefore more easily charged. It is important to preserve a collective approach, decide as a group what attitude to take (in particular, no one should make any kind of statement and no one should sign any documents). In principle, identity checks may not last more than four hours. Anyone familiar with this kind of situation should explain the procedure to the others, reassure them and give them the contact number for the Legal Team for use as necessary.

If you are stopped on your own and find yourself surrounded by police people, whether during an occupation or during a demonstration, best say nothing, refuse to acknowledge any accusations made and stoically await developments. If you have been subject to violence, do not hesitate to insist on seeing a doctor and receiving a certificate of sick leave ("arrêt de travail") even if you are not in employment. If you can, try and take note of policemen's identification numbers. If there are several of you, try and exchange identities and telephone numbers in order to avoid being isolated. Remember to shout your name out so that anyone standing nearby can let the Legal Team know you have been arrested. Do not hesitate to let other people arrested whom they should contact on the outside with the necessary details of your arrest, the Legal Team for instance, and tell them the circumstances of your arrest. Try and discuss what attitude you are going to adopt as events develop: "garde à vue", criminal charges, trial.

At the police station:
You may be transferred to a police station ("commissariat") either for an identity check ("contrôle d'identité") which can take up to four hours, or under arrest ("garde à vue") which can last up to 24 hours, or 48 hours if renewed. These time limits are doubled if you are accused of terrorism or drug-trafficking. You will then be interrogated by detective ("officier de police judiciaire, OPJ) who will take a statement ("process-verbal", PV). In the case of a standard identity check, this is a mere entry in the log-book. However if you are charged, the statement will be used as evidence in court, along with any previous declarations you have made. You have a right to an interpreter.

If you are a French citizen, you are not obliged to have your identity papers on your person and you may establish your identity by any means available (administrative papers and letters, evidence by a witness including over the telephone). You may not at this stage be photographed, nor may your fingerprints be taken, unless you refuse to give your identity and unless it is impossible to establish your identity by any other means. You clothes will be felt - by a woman if you are a woman but you may not be subject to a full body-search. If this procedure is not respected, you may have grounds to get charges against you dropped. Regarding DNA identification, the police can force you to give your DNA (spitting on blotting-paper). Refusing is now a criminal offence and could lead to 1 year of imprisonment and 15,000 euros of fines.

The general rule, where collective action is concerned, is to refuse to make any kind of statement, meaning you give your identity, address and profession, which is compulsory, and then state "I have nothing to declare" ("Je n'ai rien à declarer") in answer to any other question. You are not obliged to respond to additional identity questions ("grand état civil") which may include whether you possess a driving-licence, the nature of your residence, the name of your landlord, etc. Where several people have been detained, the danger of contradictory responses or responses which may incriminate others is such that it is best if no one says anything. N.B. any kind of discussion, even informal discussion in a corridor, is to be treated as the start of interrogation.

If, despite the above, you decide to answer questions, be very careful to monitor how police questions and your replies are transcribed in the written statement (PV): anything you admit will be used as evidence against you or against others (by comparing different defendant's responses). The best course is to admit nothing held against you and to refuse to sign the statement. This is a right. Normally, you are entitled to alter the statement as often as you like until you sign it. If, despite the above, you choose to sign the statement, make sure you leave no blank space between statement and signature. As a general rule, it is better not to sign the statement, even if this means justifying your attitude before of magistrate subsequently ("I was submitted to undue pressure on the part of the police; I was hit; so I effused to sign the statement as is my right").

If you are stopped and questioned after an action, say nothing about how it was devised, how you were told about it, where you met the others and so on... GIVE NO NAMES. When faced with a difficult or embarrassing question, say nothing.

During the four hour identity check ("contrôle d'identité") you may be placed under formal arrest ("en garde à vue"). You must be told that this has happened. The only person who can decide such a measure is the public prosecutor ("procureur"). The police do not have the power to decide to place someone under arrest ("en garde à vue") contrary to what they often suggest, in a form of unjustified blackmail which goes something like "if you make a statement, we will not place you under arrest.".

A "garde à vue" seems long. Be patient and control yourself. If you have been hurt, ask to see a doctor who will establish a medical certificate. If there are several of you, try and swap identities and telephone numbers with other detainees. Count each other. In that way, you will know, when released, how many people are still inside. Make sure you know why people have been charged and any other useful information.

You are entitled to see a lawyer one hour after the "garde à vue" has begun. Ask to see legal aid lawyer. His or her services come free and you can always change lawyers if you enter into a lengthy legal process. The Legal Aid lawyers have been given previous warning of the No Border No Nation Camp. Do not hesitate to tell the lawyer that you are participating in the camp and ask him or her to contact the Legal Team so that they can make other arrangements if the lawyer does not particularly wish to continue acting for you. Tell the lawyer the exact circumstances of your arrest and let him or her know that you will refuse an immediate court appearance. Ask him what guarantees ("garanties de representation") you may be required to provide, tell him or her where he or she may be able to obtain these guarantees and make sure he or she provides the Legal Team with the information in question.

You may ask your lawyer to let someone know what has happened immediately, but the telephone call will be made by a police person. You can use this possibility to have the Legal Team know you are under arrest if you are not sure they have already been told.

You may ask for food but you will have to pay for it and it may not be forthcoming.

As soon as you leave the police station, try down everything you may have told the police during the identity control and your arrest ("garde à vue"). The Legal Team needs information which is as precise as possible.

Minors: You can be held under arrest (en "garde-à-vue") from the age of 13. You will be brought before a juveniles' court. There is no immediate court hearing procedure for juveniles. You will automatically be provided with the services of a lawyer .You should request a court-appointed lawyer ("avocat(e) commis d'office". The police may decide to telephone your parents, or another person in loco parentis prior to your release, which is why is may be helpful to ask your parents to provide you with a discharge ("décharge légale"). The text of this should read "X is provisionally entrusted with legally responsibillity for my child" ("Je confie la garde de mon enfant de façon temporaire à ..."), and should be accompanied by a photocopy of your parents' passport or identity card.

People outside:
As soon as anyone has been more than four hours in the police station, they are formally under arrest ("garde à vue"). It is advisable to wait outside the police station, to demonstrate if numbers are sufficient, in order to obtain news of those arrested and let them know that they are not on the own. You will have to contact the Legal Team to obtain advice on further developments (people may be released under "garde à vue", without further obligation). It is often possible to have cigarettes and food sent in to those inside. It is always advisable to try this. The knowledge that people are outside are demonstrating true solidarity is a great help when faced with the loneliness of a police cell. Once the necessary information has been received, it is necessary to devise a defence strategy. Anyone who has been involved in an action alongside those arrested will play a crucial role in telling the outside world what has happened and give advice according to political circumstances, in tandem with the Legal Team.

Vehicle checks and searches:
- when a vehicle is checked, only the driver need show proof of identity. The police are entitled to ask that the vehicle is opened and to check inside, but they may not search it without a written warrant. They can also search it "if there is towards the driver or one of the passengers one or several plausible reason to suspect that he/she has committed as the perpetrator or the accomplice, a flagrant crime or misdemeanour". In other words, it will be very difficult to refuse before-hand to have your car checked and searched. A written statement (PV) should be issued. It is important to obtain it.

- Vehicle search: this is not possible without a formal warrant, except when investigating terrorist acts, where offences involving firearms and explosives are suspected or where drug-trafficking is involved. In this instance, the vehicle may be searched at any time of day or night, in the presence of its owner or in its owner's absence. They can also search it "if there is towards the driver or one of the passengers one or several plausible reason to suspect that he/she has committed as the perpetrator or the accomplice, a flagrant crime or misdemeanour". In other words, it will be very difficult to refuse before-hand to have your car checked and searched. Except in these circumstances, the police need a written warrant from the state prosecutor ("Procureur") issued for a specified time and place, in the presence of either the owner or the driver of the vehicle, or failing these, in the presence of a third-party.

Specific case for vehicles transformed into habitations: the same rules as for the home search apply.

Searching homes:
These must be authorized by a magistrate ("juge de la detention et des libertés") on submission by the prosecutor ("procureur"). It is necessary to obtain a copy of the prosecutor's demand ("commission rogatoire") and to verify that it stipulates the address, the offences suspected and the grounds of suspicion. Homes may be searched only during official hours (6 a.m. to 9 p.m.) except where terrorism or drug-trafficking are involved, or where the place concerned is not a place of residence. N.B. tents, bags, even pockets are considered an extension of the home and searching them is therefore subject to the same regulations.

Before the prosecutor ("procureur"):
The prosecutor or his deputy ("substitut du procureur") is responsible for determining the charges upon which the hearing will be based. You will be summoned to meet him, usually towards the end of the "garde à vue", the day after your arrest. He or she is representative of the state prosecution department ("Le Parquet") and will decide whether or not there are grounds for charging you. He will also determine what charges justify a court appearance.

You are strongly advised never to acknowledge responsibility for an acts which may constitute an offence. When you are summoned before the prosecutor, you will be interrogated a second time and this will give rise to a second statement ("process-verbal, PV) being drawn up. It is crucial that this statement is compatible with the statement made at the police station or, alternatively, that it explicitly refutes that statement. Otherwise, the magistrate will accuse of lying when you get to court. If you wish ton refute the statement drawn up in the police-station, make this very clear and explain your decision by referring to the tense circumstances of your "garde à vue", the fact that you were put under pressure, and by saying that you are now denying your initial statement. The prosecutor may ask you to see a counsellor. You are not obliged to accept this. Everything to you tell a counsellor is liable to be used as evidence against you in court (for instance, during the December 1995 movement in Paris, the fact that someone charged with causing bodily harm was a martial arts practioner was used against them.)

Aliens, even those not illegally resident in France and on a short visit, may be tried as French citizens or may be expelled and banned from entry either into France or into the Schengen Area, either for a short time or indefinitely. If they are wanted in another country, an extradition process will begin. This is not something we will go into here. Aliens who are minors may not, in principle, be expelled.

Immediate court appearance:
The public prosecutor will decide when you are to appear before a judge or magistrate. The procedure for immediate court appearance brings you to court within about 24 hours of the event, and thus does not give you time to prepare a case for the defence, find witnesses, etc.... Furthermore, the penalties inflicted on those appearing in court immediately are almost always heavier than those summoned later, for a corresponding offence. The defendant is entitled to request a delayed trial in order to prepare his defence. The immediate appearance procedure should generally be rejected by the defendant at the start of the trial, which may mean ignoring people who suggest that rejecting an immediate hearing automatically entails doing remand. The defendant is then be deferred before another magistrate ("juge des libertés et de la detention") who will rule on whether the defendant should be released or not setting a subsequent date for trial, or whether the defendant should be held in custody until the trial. The right course at this stage is to plead for release. The lawyer must provide the judge with guarantees ("garanties de representation") - see "With the Lawyer" section below.

With the Lawyer:
After seeing the prosecutor ("procureur"), if you are sent to court immediately, you will be given a lawyer attached to the court ("avocat commis d'office"), who will not have sufficient time to prepare the case for the defence. You should ask the lawyer, with the support of the Legal Team, for the hearing to be adjourned and find guarantees ("garanties de representation") such as proof of registration as a student, proof of employment, written offers of employment, proof of residence (better give official evidence that you live with reliable friends rather than in a hall of residence, a hostel, or a squat is providing this evidence is difficult) so that the lawyer can plead release and remand may be avoided. Try and arrange for evidence of employment and residence to be available easily, either by having the necessary papers on you or in a place where friends and the Legal Team can access them. In order to get friends to establish a certificate saying that you live with them, all that is required is a signed letter stating "I, the undersigned, give my word of honour that such-and-such a person has lived with me at the following address since such-and-such a date" (Je certifie sur l'honneur héberger ... à ... (address) depuis... (date.) ", together with an electricity, telephone or other bill and a photocopy of the friend in question's identity papers (passport, driving-licence or identity card).

Before a Magistrate:
This is a theatre of comedy. What is the first way through? Firstly, behave with courtesy. Magistrates like to enjoy respect. Wear respectable clothes. Make them believe you belong to their world. Provide a plausible and coherent account of events. Do not be put off by perverse or openly hostile questioning. Call respectable witnesses to testify that you have done nothing wrong and you are a nice person. The lawyer will have studied the elements of the case with the help of the Legal Team and will seek to undermine police statements which are generally replete with illogical and contradictory conclusions. Demonstrators' trials are generally a farce: the magistrate is not ruling on the facts held against demonstrators, but on their participation in a demonstration which is disapproved. Generally, these trials are based on police testimony where the police are under an obligation to justify the arrests they have made. The question is, should the magistrate trust a defendant who denies the charges, or trust the representatives of the law? The matter is soon settled unless lawyers succeed in proving the sometimes enormous inconsistencies and contradictions in the evidence presented by the police. the magistrate may ask whether you will accept a sentence of community work ("travail d'intérêt general", TIG. See below). To say no does not necessarily induce more severe penalties.

When condemned:
You may be sentenced to a variety of different penalties. How these are applied depends on the ruling of a sentencing magistrate ("juge d'application des peines", JAP).

- Prison sentence: imprionment. If you appear freely in court and if the sentence is inferior to one year's imprisonment, you will not be arrested at the end of the trial and the JAP will determine when the sentence is served. If you must accomplish the sentence, you will be probably be sent to prison ("maison d'arrêt") and it is a criminal magistrate or a JAP who will commit you ("mettre sous mandat de depot"). When you reach prison, the prison authorities ("administration pénitentiaire", AP), will not give you any information. You will therefore have to ask other inmates what the procedure is, for instance regarding the canteen, permission to have clothes brought and so on. Usually, other inmates will lend you anything you need until a postal order arrives. Write to someone on the outside as soon as possible to tell them everything you know about the rules, for instance regarding visiting times, canteen times, what may be sent and so on, so that practical issues can be sorted out as quickly as possible. You will be put in touch with a social worker on arrival and he may contact friends and relatives. Always remember that this person is a salaried official.

- Suspended prison sentence. You will not be sent to prison. However, for a certain duration, you will be liable to imprisonment. Simple suspended sentence ("sursis simple"): over a period of time determined by the magistrate, which can be up to five years, you may be liable to serve a prison sentence if you receive a subsequent sentence. The magistrate sentencing you a second time will decide at the subsequent hearing whether the sentence justifies applying your previously suspended sentence. He will usually do so if the circumstances of your second arrest are similar. At the end of the period of your suspended sentence, if you have not re-offended, the sentence will lapse. You may also receive a conditional suspended sentence. This is harsher. For a period between 18 months and three years, you will be place under observation ("contrôle judiciare") by the JAP. You must show that you are employed, that you have a place to live and you are liable to immediate imprisonment on arrest if subsequently arrested, without further hearing.

- You may also be condemned to community work ("travail d'intérêt general", TIG). This is additional to a suspended sentence and not an alternative to it. It involves providing 30 hours to 240 hours of free labour to a local authority ("collectivité publique"), a public institution ("établissement public") or a non-governmental organization ("association"), for example cleaning the toilets in a police station or working as a municipal gardener. When you have completed your TIG sentence, the associated suspended sentence will lapse.
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- Fines ("amendes"): a fine is a sum of money you may be condemned to pay the state in compensation for damages consequent on public disorder. Fines may be additional to suspended prison sentences.

- Damages ("dommages et intérêts"): this is a penalty under civil law, generally corresponding to legal action by a police officer or a member of the public. The amount may vary between one symbolic franc (euro) to several thousand francs/euros, according, for instance, to the number of days off work the victim has been given ("incapacité temporaire de travail", ITT).

- Criminal record ("insciption au casier judiciare"): The sentence you receive will appear in your criminal record. This consists of three coupons. Coupon n° 1 is available to the courts only. It provides a complete record of your judicial history. Coupon n° 2 is available to the authorities (public administrations such as the police ("Préfectures") and the army. It is restricted and does not reveal suspended sentences once these have lapsed. A magistrate has the power to decide that a penalty will not appear on Coupon n° 2 of your record. Coupon n° 3 is available only to the person concerned and cannot be delivered to a third party. It shows sentences above two years' imprisonment, though a magistrate may instruct that a lesser sentence can appear on this part of your record. Coupon n° 3 also contains any bans, prohibitions and deprivations of rights ("interdictions, incapacités ou déchéances"). It is possible, during trial, to request that a penalty does not appear on Coupons n°2 and n°3.

A note on offences
The least important is contempt ("outrage"). It relates to insults received by police officer in the execution of their duties. It often accompanies other charges, in order to place a negative slant on the defendant. It may give rise to suspended sentence of 15 days to 3 months' imprisonment as well as a fine (500 francs to 15000 francs) and/or damages for the policemen in question.

You can be accused of 'rebellion' if you resist during your arrest or if you're considered to have made 'threatening' gestures towards cops on duty. You risk to be condemned to prison (suspended sentence / 'sursis') from 6 days up to 6 months or to community work (TIG in french). Carrying a 'prohibited weapon' (knife, cans, gas, ......) exposes you to receiving a suspended sentence if you are careless enough to get caught.

Throwing projectiles ( cans, bottles, stone, non identified dangerous object, fences...) is enough for the police to charge you even if you don't hit any particular target. You may then receive a either a suspended sentence ('sursis') or community work penalty (TIG).

The offence of 'violence on a representative of the police' is more pernicious, according to whether the cop sues or not, and can involve very heavy sentences if admitted by the accused or if the policeman involved is heavily injured.

In general, causing bodily harm is punishable if the person concerned has been laid off work for a week or more. There are exceptions, such as causing a police person bodily harm during the course of his or her duties, which is punishable even if the person concerned has been laid off for less than a week (or not laid off at all!!). The sentences involved stretch from 2 months' to 2 years' imprisonment (which may or may not be suspended). Cops usually seek damages as well.

Damaging property ('dÈgradation de biens'): smashing windows, cars, shops and commercial goods of any sort in general is frowned upon by judges. The notion of damage is very broad, ranging from graffiti to sabotage. Possible sentences include a prison sentence (suspended or not), ranging from 1 month to 2 years, according to what has been damaged, the number of people involved and the context, in particular whether the act is related to a social struggle. There is also a risk of being fined (by the State) or having to pay damages (to a person or company). If a private person or company sues, the sentence is usually more severe.

Theft is also an expensive offence, especially if you are caught red-handed.

It is essential not to admit to anything based on police testimony. Arrests usually take place in confused circumstances, confusing to demonstrators and cops alike. It is commonplace that people are charged and punished for things done by others. Judges are well aware of this. Accordingly, you should usually play the part of the innocent person arrested in error.

Everything is now in place to enable certain offences mentioned above, or indeed simply occupying public or private places of benefit to the State, including to the State's economic interests, should now be considered as terrorist acts if the Public Prosecutor ("Procureur") considers that the offending deed was intended to "seriously damage or destroy the political, economic or social infrastructure of a country". This modifies potential sentencing policy and the rules governing search-warrants "perquisitions" and arrest ("garde-Ω-vue"). Not enough is known about how these provisions will be used and we cannot say more. As far as we know, they have never yet been applied.

Organizing a legal defence

The following comments complement and set out the basic framework within which a person charged may work with the Legal Team if they wish.

When you appear in court, the magistrate or judge will question you on the matters held against you, according to information received from the police. In order to respond correctly, you will need to establish a case for the defence, by which is meant a coherent and plausible version of events, which is OK by you. There are many possible lines of defence, according to one's thinking and according to circumstances. Choosing one over the others always has political implications and everyone should be aware of them. What is proposed here is only one avenue. The question is not whether you are guilty or innocent, but that you have been accused by law-and-order representatives and that you will need to defend yourself, even though your word may be a priori worth less than theirs in court. If you deny the charges in a logical and coherent manner, you may spread doubt and this in turn may lessen the burden of punishment, as against recognizing the charges and hoping for mercy, a method which in practice is akin to suicide. If the facts are admitted in court for specific political

reasons, it is important to realize the possible consequences in terms of conviction.

In order to establish your defence, you will in theory appoint a lawyer (the Legal Team can help with this if you wish). This lawyer is a technical expert: you must prepare your defence with him. The lawyer is no better placed than you or your friends however to assess what is at stake and the relative strengths of the various parties involved. The lawyer is not there to oblige you adopt a line of defence, but to help you express yourself, defend your actions and your point of view, as well as warn you as to what penalty you may incur. it is important that it should be you who decides what the logic of your defence should be, having listened to and weighed the various arguments involved, on the advice of others who have taken part in the same action as you, of any fellow-defendants and of the Legal Team if you are pursuing a group defence. In the case of collective actions, we suggest that individuals should consult collectively with other people involved regarding individual defence strategies.

In order to establish a line of defence, the first thing to do is to obtain the results of any investigation ("dossier d'instruction") from the court (via a lawyer), read it through thoroughly from beginning to end, paying special attention to police evidence against you (PV de policiers témoins à charge). You mùust criticize this evidence, reject the version of events it contains, word-by-word at first. This means reading carefully each version of the facts evidenced by a police officer and oppose your own version when siagreeing. N.B. Photocopies of the file containing the results of an investigation ("dossier d'instruction") are available for free if you have requested legal aid and are entitled to receive it.

Next, you must go through the action through the successive phases established in the evidence ("PV"); determine the circumstances, the situation, before you were arrested ("interpellation"), then facts against you, the exact circumstances of your arrest according to police evidence. Then, if different police people have given evidence, which is often the case, you must compare the evidence and establish whether there are logical flaws or contradictions between various police statements. Having done this, you must develop a logical account for the defence that may stand against the police account.

In order to back up what you affirm, you must find witnesses for the defence. These must be able to state that they were present at the time the alleged offence was committed and must be able to provide a different account to the police account. Witnesses' testimony must be useful, meaning that it must bring elements to bear showing that you are not guilty. Witnesses' respectability is a factor. Their evidence may be in writing or may be presented orally in court. You must have oral witnesses called ("cités") by a lawyer, usually a few days before the day set for the trial. There is charge for calling witnesses into court, payable to the clerk of court ("citation à comparaître"). The fee is lower if witnesses are introduced at the start of the hearing. You may also introduce plain written statements by character witnesses ("témoins de moralité"). These will not refer to the alleged offence, but will emphasize that you are usually a serious, gentil, nice, generous, civically-minded person.

Form of Evidence
Written testimony to be introduced into a criminal court ("correctionelle") must absolutely be presented in a certain form. Photocopies of both sides of an identity card are required, together with handwritten evidence on a blank sheet of paper containing the witness' name, first name, place and date of birth, address, nationality and profession. Legally-speaking, in order to be admissible, written evidence must contain the established formula: "I, the undersigned, certify that Ì witnessed the following facts..." ("Je soussigné certifie avoir été témoin des faits suivants..."); "I declare that I am not related to, nor do I employ, nor am I employed by the defendant..." ("Je déclare n'avoir aucun lien de parenté et n'être ni l'employeur ni l'employé de la personne en cause..."); and finally, "I know that this evidence is liable to be brought before a court and that any false evidence would make me liable for prosecution for perjury (Je sais que ce témoignage va être produit devant le tribunal, et que tout faux témoignage entraînerait des poursuites pénales.")

In addition to these various set phrases, you must give your version of events, your perception of the situation, including whether there was any police brutality or any other irregularities such as the police not wearing armbands or not saying that they belong to the police. You must also refer to the deeds held against the defendant and declare that he or she is not guilty. You may also supply evidence as to his or her character or not refer to the facts of the case but simply to the defendant's character and show how unlikely it is that he or she could have committed the acts he or she is accused of.

Final Words of Advice from the Legal Team
Do lots of great stuff but don't get caught. If you can't avoid being charged, give us a great trial!