CPP Articles 74-75 (France)
Definition
Articles 74 and 74-1 of the French Code de procédure pénale governing the procureur de la République's investigative authority over deaths in suspicious circumstances or of unknown cause, and the judicial-autopsy (autopsie médico-légale) procedure that may follow.
- Jurisdiction
- France
- Source
- Code de procedure penale, Articles 74 and 74-1
- Authority
- Procureur de la Republique
- Governs
- Investigation of suspicious or unexplained deaths, judicial autopsy
Common questions
What role does the procureur de la Republique play under Articles 74-74-1 that differs from a coroner system?+
Rather than an independent coroner deciding whether to investigate, the procureur, a public prosecutor, holds the authority to order an investigation and to direct that an autopsie medico-legale be performed, integrating the decision to investigate a death into the prosecutorial rather than a separate coronial structure.
When does French law require a medico-legal autopsy under this framework?+
The autopsy procedure under these articles is triggered when a death is suspicious in its circumstances or when the cause of death is unknown, giving the procureur discretion to order forensic investigation in cases that do not present an obviously natural cause.
Related terms
- BNSS § 194
- Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (replacing CrPC § 174). Requires a police inquest for deaths that are sudden,...
- Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (CJA 2009)
- The primary UK statute governing HM Coroner's jurisdiction in England and Wales. Section 1(2) triggers a duty to investigate when the coroner...
- INTERPOL DVI Protocol
- The INTERPOL Disaster Victim Identification protocol (last revised 2022), which defines standardised Post-Mortem (PM) data-collection forms and the matching process between PM...
- Medical Examiner (US)
- A physician (typically a board-certified forensic pathologist) appointed by government authority to investigate deaths within their jurisdiction. Distinguished from the elected Coroner...
- NAME Referral Criteria
- The National Association of Medical Examiners consensus criteria for deaths that should receive medico-legal investigation. Categories include sudden unexpected death in apparently...