France: 7 cases

Overview

France has not completed any cases concerning cumulative prosecutions including core international crimes and terrorism charges, despite the first such indictment being filed in 2018. Notably, France is the only European country to have initiated cumulative prosecution proceedings against a legal entity, LaFarge SA, a cement company charged with complicity in crimes against humanity committed by ISIS and terrorist financing. After a series of appeals concerning the validity of the indictment, it was confirmed that LaFarge can indeed be prosecuted for complicity in crimes against humanity. In 2023 the Court of Cassation, the highest court for criminal matters in France, ruled in a landmark decision that for the requirement of double criminality in relation to crimes against humanity to be met, relevant conduct does not need to be criminalised in the same manner in France and the country where the crimes have allegedly been committed. Instead, it is sufficient that the underlying conduct is criminalised at all.
 

Genocide and crimes against humanity have been criminalised in France since 1994, following their incorporation into the French Penal Code. War crimes were incorporated in the French Penal Code in 2010. Terrorism offences are contained within Title II of Book IV of the French Penal Code. Article 689-11 of the French Criminal Code of Procedure allows the prosecution of foreign nationals on the basis of universal jurisdiction for core international crimes. 
 

Investigations concerning core international crimes are led by a special division within the judicial police – the Central Office for Combatting Core International Crimes and Hate Crimes (OCLCH) – and can be initiated by the division itself or at the request of prosecutors, victims, and NGOs. Prosecutions are then led by a specialised judicial unit – the War Crime Unit – established in 2011. In 2019 the War Crime Unit was merged with the Anti-Terrorism Unit. The Paris Court (tribunal judiciaire de Paris) has national jurisdiction over core international crimes and terrorism offences, meaning all cases concerning cumulative prosecution are adjudicated there on first instance. Appeals are possible to the Paris Court of Appeals with final appeals potentially being lodged to the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court.
 

Search

Users can search through cases by entering keywords or case numbers.

© 2025 ICCT

Last update: 2 May 2025