The French Defender of Rights ensures that those carrying out security activities in France comply with professional ethics.

It may intervene in the security activities of the following persons:

• Public security officers (police, gendarmes, customs officers, prison guards, rural or forestry guards, etc.)
• Agents of bodies with a public service mission (e.g. public transport supervisors)
• Private security company employees (guarding, surveillance, cash-in-transit services, etc.)

You can refer to the Defender of Rights if you are the victim or witness to behavior by law enforcement or security agents that you consider illegal.

You can also do this if you are the representative or the person entitled to it of a direct victim.

The facts must occur in the professional context of the officers, for example in one of the following situations:

• Arrest or police custody
• Identity check
• Filing a complaint (refusal, contempt, moral judgment, etc.)
• Detention (violence, humiliation, deprivation, etc.)
• Excavation
• Policing of demonstrations (misuse of intermediate force weapons (flash-ball).

Such behavior can also be observed in another context, outside the judicial or prison framework: supermarkets, customs, airports, etc.

Powers of the Ombudsman

The Defender of Rights may collect any useful information on the facts of the case.

It may request information from the authorities, private persons and ministers responsible for seizing control bodies (general inspections).

He can do on-site checks in public places and business premises.

A public official, a private security business officer and his staff may be summoned and questioned by the Defender of Rights.

Case Processing

Where the facts of the case suggest the existence of a criminal offense, the Defender of Rights must inform the Public Prosecutor.

Where the facts appear to constitute breaches of discipline, he may inform the authorities or persons vested with disciplinary authority.

The holders of disciplinary authority must answer to the Defender of Rights for the follow-up given to the case.

In order to remedy the shortcomings found or prevent their recurrence, the Defender of Rights may address an opinion or a recommendation to the authorities concerned, which must respond to him within the time limit set by him.

In the absence of a response, or if the recommendation has not been followed, the Defender of Rights may draw up a special report and make it public.

If you believe that you are a victim of or witness to illegal behavior by national police officers, you can contact the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) online.

To do this, you must use a reporting form:

Submit online to the Inspectorate General of the National Police

If you wish, you will be informed of the outcome of your report.

Any false report is systematically reported to the judicial authority and may be the subject of a complaint by the Ministry of the Interior.