Find Lawyers in France for Criminal Defense
Practice Area Overview
Criminal law may nowadays interfere with any human activities, and both individuals and companies may be concerned by this evolution.
In France, criminal offences are not only comprised in the criminal code, but also in the commerce code, labor code, environmental code, town planning code, intellectual property code, etc.
Criminal lawyers therefore play their parts in various fields and at different stages: not only during the criminal trial itself and not only during the investigations and the pre-trial stage, but also before any legal proceedings, as a counsel and in order to prevent the legal risks for their clients.
According to the French criminal procedural code, the pre-trial stage may result in a preliminary or judicial investigation, the rules applying to each type of investigation being different.
Furthermore, in a preliminary investigation, only one judge will be both in charge of the investigation at the pre-trial stage and of carrying out prosecution during the trial itself, when the judge in charge of the judicial investigation will never interfere with the trial.
One of the specificities of the French criminal procedure is indeed the hybrid status of the “Public Prosecutor” (judges in charge of the preliminary investigations), which rises numerous issues since these judges are not considered by the European Court of Human Rights to be as independent and impartial as others, regarding in particular the executive power.
And if recent reforms tend to strengthen the rights of litigants, the need of a criminal lawyer remains crucial, especially when one’s know that preliminary investigations constitute the overwhelming majority of criminal proceedings, and that the damage of one company’s image is compounded by the slowness of French legal proceedings.
Within this context, it is important to highlight that since the 1srt of April 2010, French lawyers have another tool that they can use to ensure their clients’ defense: it is indeed possible to question the validity of any legal provisions regarding French constitutional standards, which might lead to the repeal of the unconstitutional provisions.
One also has to keep in mind that if pre-trial and trial stage are the original core of criminal defense, the many legal risks that companies may face require nowadays for criminal lawyers to intervene within the firm before criminal risks appears within the firm: the criminal lawyer’s role will therefore be to raise awareness within the client’s company, but also to organize internal audits in order to identify and to prevent legal risks from happening.
In the specific area of “compliance”, lawyers will have to work with both French professional and legal provisions but also with foreign legislation, including international standards.
Both the diversity and the complexity of criminal law makes it all the more necessary to select a lawyer regarding his ability, expertise and experience to apprehend criminal law in its entirety and to use each possible legal tool in favor of his client’s best advice and defense.
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La matière pénale s’est désormais immiscée dans l’ensemble des activités humaines. Et tant les individus, que les sociétés, françaises ou étrangères, sont susceptibles d’être concernés par cette évolution.
Ainsi, les infractions ne se retrouvent plus seulement dans le code pénal, mais également dans le code de commerce, le code du travail, le code de l’environnement, le code de l’urbanisme, le code de la propriété intellectuelle, etc.
L’avocat pénaliste a donc vocation à intervenir sur des champs d’action distincts et à des stades différents : non plus seulement au cours de l’audience et non plus seulement durant la phase préparatoire du procès pénal mais également, avant toute poursuite, en qualité de conseil à fin de prévention du risque.
Aux termes du code de procédure pénale français, la phase préparatoire du procès pénal peut se traduire par une enquête ou une information judiciaire, dont les règles sont sensiblement différentes.
Plus précisément, dans le cadre d’une enquête préliminaire, seul un magistrat (le procureur) sera en charge de l’enquête et représentera l’accusation lors du procès qui viendra éventuellement clôturer l’enquête, quand l’intervention du juge d’instruction est cantonnée à la phase préparatoire du procès pénal, soit l’information judiciaire.
L’une des spécificités de la procédure pénale française réside d’ailleurs dans ce statut hybride des magistrats du Parquet qui soulève des interrogations et des difficultés sur le terrain des garanties et des droits des justiciables, dès lors que les magistrats du Parquet ne sont pas considérés par la Cour Européenne des Droits de l’Homme (CEDH) comme présentant des garanties d’indépendance et d’impartialité suffisantes vis-à-vis du pouvoir exécutif.
Et si les réformes récentes tendent à renforcer les droits des justiciables au stade de l’enquête, la défense de ses intérêts par un avocat spécialisé et expérimenté dès ce stade et même avant est capitale, quand on sait que les enquêtes concernent aujourd’hui l’écrasante majorité des procédures pénales, et que le préjudice d’image est, en France, décuplé par la lenteur des procédures judiciaires.
Dans ce contexte, il importe de relever de première part que l’avocat dispose depuis le 1er avril 2010 d’un nouvel outil pour assurer la défense de ses clients dans le cadre d’un procès : la question prioritaire de constitutionnalité permet en effet de contrôler la conformité des dispositions légales aux normes constitutionnelles, et peut conduire à l’abrogation des dispositions jugées inconstitutionnelles.
De seconde part, il importe d’insister sur le fait que si le procès pénal et la phase préparatoire du procès pénal sont les lieux privilégiés de l’exercice des droits de la défense, les risques auxquels sont exposées les sociétés supposent désormais que l’intervention de l’avocat pénaliste ait lieu en amont sur le terrain de la prévention des risques dans l’entreprise : le rôle de l’avocat est alors d’alerter les justiciables sur les risques pénaux encourus, mais également de diligenter des audits internes afin d’identifier et de prévenir ces risques au sein de l’entreprise.
Dans ce domaine du conseil, dit de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises, l’avocat sera confronté aux dispositions légales, règlementaires, ou professionnelles, françaises, mais également à des législations étrangères et aux standards internationaux.
La diversité et la complexité du droit pénal aujourd’hui rendent plus que jamais nécessaire le choix d’un avocat pénaliste en mesure de maitriser, au profit de son client, l’ensemble des dimensions du conseil et de la défense pénale et ce y compris en matière de compliance.
BG2V founding Partner (2010), Admitted to the Paris Bar since 1999. Expertise : Criminal Law Experience : BG2V, Former Secretary of the Internship Conference, Metzner & Partners, Salès Vincent & Associatess, Townsend Townsend & Crew (San Francisco). Education : DEA in Private International Law, University of Paris I Sorbonne. Practice areas : Karim is primarily involved in the criminal liability of the legal persons of their leaders, in financial, s...
After he graduated from St Jean de Passy in Paris, Kiril Bougartchev studied at Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas. He has post-graduate diplomas in Business Law (Magistère) and in Tax Law (DESS). He first worked as an intern at l’Oreal in Paris and carried out several internships at renowned US law firms (Coudert Brothers, etc.) and securities brokers (Morgan, Olmstead, Kennedy & Gardner), before he started his career in 1988 as an auditor at Arthur Andersen. A...
Emmanuel DAOUD focuses on complex and international criminal liability cases, in particular on corporate disputes along with liability litigations, notably in the distribution, manufacturing, healthcare and environmental sectors. He also advises clients on comprehensive compliance endeavors.
Quentin de Margerie’s practice focuses on white collar crime and complex domestic and cross-border litigation, particularly with regard to corporate, securities and commercial law, M&A transactions, joint-ventures, directors’ liability, compliance and enforcement matters. He represents clients in all stages of their disputes, and has close to 10 years of experience as a trial lawyer before French civil, commercial and criminal courts as well as regulatory authorities. Quentin ...
Benoît Denis holds a certificate of specialization in criminal law and mainly acts in matters of industrial and environmental risks before the criminal, civil and administrative courts. A former judicial assistant at the Paris financial division and the Paris Court of Appeal, he has pleaded several emblematic cases at Huglo Lepage where he is in charge of sensitive litigation cases (Xynthia, green algae, dioxin pollution, nuclear risk, Lubrizol, etc.). As counsel, he also acts in real e...
Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt decided to become a lawyer specialised in criminal defence in 1989 thanks to Henri LECLERC. She began her carrier with Hervé TEMIME and.then she founded her own firm in 1993 in the same office as Hervé TEMIME. She thereafter became a partner in the TEMIME firm. Specialised in general criminal law and seasoned in criminal business law, she litigates on a regular basis before criminal courts and Assize Court (the court which hears criminal cases) all over F...
Julie FERRARI practices labour and criminal law (criminal business law, criminal health law and criminal labour law). She also has expertise in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR), particularly in the areas of labour law and criminal law. She holds a post-graduate (DEA) degree in criminal law and criminal policies in Europe (Paris I University, 1997) and she has been a member of the Paris Bar since 1999. Before founding the VIGO Law Office with Emmanuel Daoud and Christine Carp...
Fabien Ganivet is Head of Litigation & Regulatory in France, managing a team of around 40 lawyers. In the firm’s Paris office, he founded a reputable practice that deals with compliance (compliance and risk management program), white-collar investigations and criminal business litigation (criminal business, economic, financial, securities and employment law). Fabien advises and assists different types of corporates, including the legal, ethics & compliance and human resources de...
Geoffroy’s main areas of practice are white collar crime, company law litigation (shareholders’ disputes, representations and warranties, earn-out, fraud) and stock market litigation (insider trading, market manipulation). Geoffroy also handles matters in criminal employment law, including industrial accidents (manslaughter and unintentional injuries). He also advises companies on how to set up anti-corruption measures in accordance with the provisions of the Sapin II Law and assi...
Julia Minkowski was admitted to the Paris Bar in 2006 when she joined Hervé TEMIME, before becoming a partner of TEMIME. She mainly acts in business criminal law, general criminal law and business litigation, as well as in press law and art market matters. She has developed an in-depth mastery of international cases, in particular those in English-speaking countries.Julia Minkowski holds a Master’s degree in Business Law and a DEA [postgraduate diploma] in General Private Law fro...
Emmanuel graduated from Université Paris V René Descartes with a post-graduate diploma in Business Law (DESS), from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas with a diploma in Comparative Law and from Université Paris I-Sorbonne with a post-graduate diploma in African Studies – Legal Anthropology. He carried out several internships at companies active in financial management (Thorp), accounting (Guyot Varona & Associés) and audiovisual production (...
Martin Pradel is a member of the Paris Bar and founder of TALMA Dispute Resolution. He acts in the most complex white-collar matters as well as in matters of commercial and corporate litigation, in France and abroad. Martin has extensive experience in sensitive cases with high reputational stakes. He also advises companies, executives and political figures in white-collar criminal matters and compliance, particularly in cases of corruption, money laundering, terrorism financing and internatio...
Emmanuel Raynaud is an acknowledged specialist in criminal law and procedure, and more particularly, in the labour-law aspects of criminal law. In 2001, he was elected Secrétaire de la Conférence du Stage. He advises and represents clients in the Criminal Courts throughout the proceedings. Maître Raynaud participates in conducting courses and audits on criminal risks; at the Paris Bar’s School he has been teaching a course entitled “Argument: its theoretical an...
Jean Tamalet is a partner in King & Spalding’s Special Matters & Government Investigations practice. Highly experienced with sensitive cases, Jean has assisted major corporations and corporate executives in several large litigation cases over the past decade. He has extensive experience in many areas related to criminal liability of companies and their executives, and regularly assists environmental protection associations. After running his own firm for seven years, Jean joined...
Admitted to practice law since 1979, Hervé TEMIME set up his own practice as a criminal defense attorney as soon as he was registered to the bar. Founder of the TEMIME firm, he very quickly gained recognition in numerous proceedings before the Assize Court (the court which hears criminal cases). For many years he has been recognised as a specialist in the criminal defence of individuals and legal entities, in the field of white collar criminal defense. He has defended individuals invol...
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