Criminal record in France after a protest: effects and removal

Your child, or you yourself, received a conviction after a protest, and one question keeps coming back: will it follow you for life? A criminal record in France is not an indelible stain. It has three extracts, and most entries end up disappearing. A lawyer reviews your file in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

This article explains what goes on the record, who sees it, how to avoid or obtain the removal of an entry, and what it changes for studies, competitive exams and jobs.

The criminal record and its three bulletins

The national criminal record (casier judiciaire national), kept in Nantes by the Ministry of Justice, registers criminal convictions. It does not issue a single sheet, but three extracts with decreasing content, defined in Articles 774 to 777 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Bulletin	Content	Who can obtain it
No. 1	Every conviction and decision, including those made during childhood, criminal settlements (compositions pénales) and discharges without penalty	Judges and prisons only
No. 2	Most convictions, except those of minors, petty offences, discharges, criminal settlements and suspended sentences that have lapsed	Some public bodies (prefecture, public recruitment) and some employers, for a specific purpose
No. 3	The heaviest convictions: more than 2 years' immediate prison, or less than 2 years if the court orders it, and certain ongoing bans	The person concerned alone, or their legal representative

You can only request your own bulletin No. 3. It is free, online on the national criminal record website or by post. You can also view the content of your bulletins No. 1 and No. 2 at the office of the public prosecutor where you live, without receiving a copy.

What goes on your criminal record after a protest

Not everything leaves a trace on your criminal record. It takes a final criminal decision.

Not recorded: an arrest, an identity check, police custody, a decision to drop the case or an acquittal. These events may, however, appear in another file, the police record of past cases (TAJ), covered below.

Recorded: a conviction by the criminal court (tribunal correctionnel) or the police court, a completed criminal settlement, certain fixed fines, and for a minor the decisions of the children's judge or the juvenile court.

The most common offences after a protest go before the criminal court: vandalism at a protest, violence, staying in an unlawful assembly after warnings, a covered face. A simple fine for a banned protest is a petty offence.

For a petty offence, the entry stays on bulletin No. 1 and does not appear on bulletin No. 2. For a délit (mid-level offence), the conviction normally goes on bulletin No. 2, and on bulletin No. 3 only if the sentence exceeds two years' immediate prison or if the court so decides.

The wording of the judgment and exclusion from bulletin No. 2

The judgment itself shapes part of the future of your criminal record. Two levers come into play at the hearing.

Entry on bulletin No. 3. For an immediate prison sentence of two years or less, the conviction appears on bulletin No. 3 only if the court orders it. Your lawyer can argue that the judgment should not say so.

Exclusion from bulletin No. 2. Article 775-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets the court keep the conviction off bulletin No. 2, and therefore off No. 3. You ask for it at the hearing, before the sentence is handed down. The entry stays on bulletin No. 1, which only judges see.

This exclusion changes everything for a student aiming at a competitive exam or a public sector job. It must be argued with documents: university enrolment, career plan, job offer, a clean record until then. Some serious offences, such as murder or sexual offences, cannot benefit from it; ordinary offences committed at a protest generally can.

Removing an entry afterwards

If the exclusion was not requested or granted, removal remains possible in several ways.

Removal from bulletin No. 2 on application. Again under Article 775-1, you send a reasoned application to the public prosecutor where the conviction was handed down. The criminal court rules after hearing you, or your lawyer. You must show that the entry hampers your rehabilitation, for example a job refusal, and that the victim has received compensation. If refused, you may apply again six months later.

Automatic rehabilitation. It happens without any step on your part if you commit no new crime or délit for a set period (Article 133-13 of the Criminal Code). It removes the conviction from bulletins No. 2 and No. 3.

Sentence	Waiting period for automatic rehabilitation
Fine or day-fines	3 years after payment
A single prison sentence of one year or less, or another penalty	5 years after it ends
A single prison sentence of ten years or less, or several totalling five years or less	10 years after it ends

For a suspended sentence, these periods run from the day the conviction lapses, that is, at the end of the probation period without revocation. The period doubles for repeat offending.

Court-ordered rehabilitation. Before those periods end, you may apply to the investigating chamber (chambre de l'instruction) through the public prosecutor where you live. The minimum wait is three years after a délit sentence ends, one year for a petty offence. You must prove blameless conduct and payment of the fine and of any damages.

Removal from bulletin No. 1. It takes three years for a petty offence, and forty years for a crime or délit with no new conviction.

Effects on studies, competitive exams and jobs

This is often where a criminal record weighs most, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Studies. A university does not ask for your criminal record at enrolment. Some courses, however, lead to professions where it matters: health, education, security, law. Placements with children or at sensitive sites may involve a check.

Civil service exams. To become a civil servant, the entries on bulletin No. 2 must not be incompatible with the duties concerned (Article L.321-1 of the General Civil Service Code). The authorities decide case by case: criminal damage or violence at a protest can block access to the police, the gendarmerie, the prison service, teaching or the judiciary.

Security and defence jobs. Police, gendarmerie, the armed forces, private security and airports go through an administrative vetting. It also checks the TAJ, which can mention a case even without a conviction.

Private sector jobs. A private employer may ask for your bulletin No. 3 if the post justifies it, never No. 1. It can only reach No. 2 in cases the law provides, notably for work with children.

Residence for a foreign national. A conviction can weigh on a renewal or justify the withdrawal of a residence permit on public order grounds. It can also delay a naturalisation.

The TAJ, the other file to watch

The police record of past cases (traitement d'antécédents judiciaires, TAJ) is not the criminal record. This police and gendarmerie file lists people implicated in an investigation, even without a conviction, as well as victims.

After an acquittal, a dismissal or a decision to drop the case, you may ask the public prosecutor for deletion or for a note of the outcome (Article 230-8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The prosecutor has a set time to reply. This step matters a great deal before a civil service exam or a job in security.

A minor's criminal record

For a minor, the criminal record follows more protective rules.

• Bulletin No. 1 only. Decisions against a minor appear on bulletin No. 1, but never on bulletins No. 2 and No. 3. An employer or a public body will not learn of them that way.
• Educational measures fade. According to service-public, educational measures and sanctions disappear after three years, unless a new measure or conviction follows.
• Removal on request. Three years after the decision, if the sentence has been served and the young person has made positive progress, the juvenile court may order the entry removed from bulletin No. 1 (Article 770 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). A similar request exists for an offence committed between 18 and 21.

The TAJ, for its part, keeps data on minors. A deletion request to the public prosecutor therefore remains worthwhile. Our articles on a minor arrested at a protest and on parental liability complete this point.

What a lawyer brings

The best time to protect a criminal record comes before the judgment. A lawyer prepares the request for exclusion from bulletin No. 2 and the supporting documents. Afterwards, he or she drafts the removal application, follows the court-ordered rehabilitation and asks for the TAJ to be updated.

Earlier still, the lawyer assists you from police custody onwards, where the rest of the case is often decided. Legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) can cover the fees depending on your means. A criminal law lawyer answers in 20 minutes.

The official service-public page on removing a conviction details the steps, in French.