Summons by Minutes (CPPV): What are the rules?

Verified 03 November 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The summons on minutes (CPPV) allows the public prosecutor to bring to trial a person who has committed a offense within a maximum of 6 months after its police custody. The case has to be simple.

Summons by Minutes (CPPV) is a form of summons before the criminal judge.

It allows the accused person to be tried within a certain period of time maximum of 6 months after its police custody.

The public prosecutor may choose to use the CPPV for simple facts that can be tried quickly, without the need for a instruction.

Only the offenses committed by a adult are concerned.

Warning  

the procedure does not concern certain specific offenses: press offenses, political offenses, hunting or fishing offenses, fraud...

At the end of the police custody, the public prosecutor shall summon the defendant in front of him. We're talking about deferral.

The charges against him are notified. The accused is then informed of his right to make statements, answer questions or remain silent.

The accused has the right to the assistance of an interpreter if he does not understand French.

The defendant may be assisted by a lawyer of his choice. This lawyer may also be appointed ex officio by bastler of the Bar Association. If he does not have sufficient resources to pay the lawyer, he can apply for legal aid.

Who shall I contact

The lawyer can consult the file immediately. If the accused does not have a lawyer, he can consult the file himself.

One minutes, which shall include the date, time and place of the future trial is written. The notification to the defendant of his summons to this trial shall be mentioned in the minutes and shall quotation.

At the end of the hearing, the prosecutor provides the defendant with a copy of the statement.

The accused must be informed that he must appear at the trial with proof of his income and his tax or non-tax notice.

Pending trial, the accused may be placed under judicial review or under house arrest with electronic monitoring. These measures are decided by the judge of freedoms and detention, at the request of the public prosecutor.

The judge makes his decision after a hearing in in camera.

The prosecutor must also inform the victim by any means of the date, time and place of the hearing.

The trial must take place within a period of 10 days to 6 months after issuing the summons.

The defendant may waive the application of this minimum 10-day period. He must do so before the prosecutor in the presence of his lawyer.

The trial is being held in the correctional court. The rules are the same only for other criminal trials.

The court competent to judge him is determined on the basis of one of the following criteria:

  • Place where the offense was committed
  • Residence of the accused
  • Place of his arrest or detention.

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