Can you hide your face in a public place?

Verified 08 August 2024 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice

Except in exceptional circumstances, it is forbidden hide your face in the public space (in a public garden, a café, a shop, etc.). In addition, no one can coerce you to conceal your face because of your gender. These acts constitute infringements.

Facial concealment

The offense of concealing the face may be used where a person:

  • Wear an outfit designed to conceal his face
  • And that it is in the public space.

Clothing intended to conceal his face

An outfit is intended to conceal your face when it makes your identification cannot be completed.

The offense is made up when you wear one or more accessories/clothing having the effect, taken in isolation or with others, to hide your face.

However, as long as the accessory or clothing worn does not cause your face to be concealed, the prohibition does not apply.

Example :

The wearing of a scarf, cap, hat, scarf and sunglasses is allowed as long as your face is identifiable.

However, if you wear a balaclava, burqa, mask or a set of clothing that covers your face, you are in violation.

Places where concealment of the face is prohibited

It is forbidden to wear clothing intended to conceal one's face in public space.

This area includes:

  • Public roads (e.g. streets, roads and highways, etc.)
  • Places open to the public (e.g. public gardens, train stations, airports, beaches, cinemas, shops, restaurants, banking establishments, etc.)
  • Places assigned to a public service (e.g. courts, prefectures, town halls, hospitals, schools and universities, museums, libraries, France Labor, etc.).

Warning  

Hiding is also prohibited voluntarily his face for the purpose of not being identified during a protest on the public road.

You have the right to wear clothing that conceals your face under certain circumstances :

  • Where the law or the regulation order or authorize the wearing of specific clothing or accessories (e.g. helmet for two-wheeler drivers, mask wearing during the health crisis)
  • If the outfit is mandatory for health or professional reasons (e.g. construction helmet, equipment during a law enforcement intervention)
  • If you wear this outfit as part of a sports practice (example: fencing mask)
  • If you wear this outfit on the occasion of an artistic or traditional event (example: during a carnival or a theater performance)
  • If you wear this outfit in a place of worship.

Please note

Your vehicle is considered a private place. So hiding your face behind the wheel of your car is not the offense of concealment of the face. However, by covering your face while driving, you put yourself at risk and put other motorists at risk. Therefore, that act may constitute an infringement of the traffic rules.

When it is not allowed, concealing the face in public is a infringement.

The penalties depend on where you concealed your face.

General case

Wearing an outfit designed to conceal one's face in the public space is a contravention.

The fine incurred shall be equal to €150.

This fine may be accompanied or replaced by a citizenship internship.

During a demonstration

Concealing voluntarily his face for the purpose of not being identified during a demonstration is punished with a fine of €1,500. This contravention may be as high as €3,000 in case of recurrence.

Whether the deliberate concealment of the face occurs during a manifestation in which public order are committed or may be committed, the penalty may be one year in prison and €15,000 of fine.

Forced concealment of the face

This infringement is formed as soon as an individual forces you to conceal your face because of your gender.

Concealment of the face becomes an obligation when the perpetrator:

  • Uses threats
  • Use the physical or psychological violence
  • Coerces you physically or morally (for example, someone refuses to let you out of your home if you are not wearing an outfit that helps hide your face)
  • Abuse of authority or power over you (e.g. your parents, spouse or employer force you to wear clothing that fully covers your face).

If someone forces you to hide your face because of your gender, you can report this action from a chat under the Ministry of the Interior:

Report domestic, sexual, or gender-based violence

FYI  

Witnesses to such a infringement may also report.

To report, you must first fill in your postal code.

Then, you can talk to a police officer or gendarme specially trained in sexual, gender-based or domestic violence.

The police and/or gendarmes help you in your steps (example: filing a complaint) and refer you to any structure that allows full care (example: legal information structure, psychologist).

If someone forces you to hide your face, you can file a complaint against them.

To file a complaint, you can go to a police station or a gendarmerie brigade. You can also write to the public prosecutor.

Please note

The deadline for filing a complaint is 6 years from the fact-finding commission.

On the spot

To file a complaint, you have to go to a police station or to the gendarme of your choice.

Who shall I contact

Police or gendarmerie services are obliged to register your complaint if you are a victim of an offense.

When you file a complaint, you are received and heard by the police or the gendarmerie. At the end of this interview, you will receive a receipt and a copy of your complaint if you request it.

The filing of a complaint leads to a police investigation that may result in the conviction of the perpetrator.

If you're a civil party, you can get damages.

FYI  

If you are a minor, you can report the facts at the police station or gendarmerie brigade of your choice. If you wish to obtain compensation, you must obligatory be accompanied by your legal representatives (e.g. your parents) who shall constitute a civil party in your place.

If your parents are involved in the offense, a ad hoc administrator is appointed by the court and may file a civil suit on your behalf.

By mail

You can file a complaint with the public prosecutor.

To do this, you must send an email to the court of law of the place of the offense or of the domicile of the offender.

Who shall I contact

Your mail should include the following:

  • Your marital status and full contact information (address and telephone number)
  • Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
  • Name of the alleged perpetrator if known (otherwise, the complaint will be filed against X)
  • Name and address of any witnesses to the offense
  • Description and provisional or definitive estimate of the damage
  • Your proof documents: medical certificates, work stoppages, photographs, videos, miscellaneous invoices, findings, etc.

You can use the following mail template:

File a complaint with the public prosecutor

You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by simple letter or by letter followed.

A receipt will be given to you as soon as the Public Prosecutor's Office has registered your complaint.

The filing of a complaint leads to an investigation that may result in the conviction of the perpetrator.

If you constitute yourself civil party, you can get damages.

FYI  

If you are a minor, you can report the facts to the public prosecutor. If you wish to obtain compensation, you must obligatory be accompanied by your legal representatives (e.g. your parents) who shall constitute a civil party in your place.

If your parents are involved in the offense, a ad hoc administrator is appointed by the court and may file a civil suit on your behalf.

The person who forces you to conceal your face, because of your gender and using threat, violence, coercion, or abuse of authority or power, may be condemned by the correctional court.

She shall be liable to:

  • 1 year in prison
  • And from €30,000 of fine.

If you are a minor, the author of this infringement shall be punished by:

  • 2 years in prison
  • And from €60,000 of fine.

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • To know your rights in case of prosecution for concealing the face

    House of Justice and the Law

  • To get help as a victim of forced face concealment

    116 006 - Victim Assistance Number

    Listen, inform and advise victims of crime and their families.

    By telephone

    116,006

    Free call

    Open 7 days a week from 9am to 7pm

    The service can also be accessed by calling the +33 (0)1 80 52 33 76 (Normal pricing number).

    By email

    victimes@france-victimes.fr

  • To know your rights as a woman victim of an offense

    Violence Women Info - 3919

    Listen, inform and refer women victims of violence, and witnesses to such violence.

    Addresses physical, verbal, or psychological abuse, at home or at work, and abuse of any kind (including sexual harassment, assault, and rape).

    Does not deal with emergencies (it is not a police or gendarmerie service).

    For other types of violence, 3919 provides a first-level response and directs or transfers to a useful number.

    By telephone

    39,19 (free call from a landline or mobile phone in metropolitan and DOM)

    Open 24/7

    Anonymous call

    Call not on phone bills