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What to do in case of discrimination?
Verified 27 November 2020 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Justice
Discrimination is intended to discriminate against a person on grounds prohibited by law. For example, origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, political, philosophical or religious beliefs. Discrimination on any of these grounds is punishable by criminal law. As a victim, you can apply to the court for a criminal penalty and compensation.
What applies to you ?
Any distinction or difference in treatment shall be prohibited if it is based on one of the following grounds:
- Age
- Physical Appearance
- Genetic characteristics
- Domiciliation
- Health status
- Pregnancy
- Disability
- Gender identity
- Spoken language (ability to speak in a language other than French)
- Place of residence
- Morals
- Name
- Philosophical Opinions
- Political opinions
- Sexual orientation
- Origin
- Particular vulnerability linked to the economic situation
- Loss of autonomy
- Alleged race, ethnicity, nationality: membership or non-membership
- Religion: belief or belonging or non-belonging
- Sex
- Family status
- Trade Unionism
Discrimination is direct when it is clearly visible, even displayed or claimed. For example, if a job ad refuses women with children.
Discrimination may be indirect when apparently neutral measures actually place a category of persons at a significant disadvantage. For example, if a bank accepts only the French ID card as proof of identity, this discriminates against foreigners.
Discrimination may relate, for example, to access to the following rights:
- Recruitment
- Access to housing
- Education: conditions of registration, admission, evaluation
- Access to services: nightclub, restaurant, public building, credit...
If you are a victim of discrimination and your situation requires urgent law enforcement intervention, you can alert the police or gendarmerie.
In case of emergency, and only in this situation, it is possible to alert the police or gendarmerie by telephone call, or by SMS, if you are unable to speak.
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By telephone
In case of emergency, when a quick intervention is necessary, you can call the emergency police. Dial 17.
You can also contact the 112.
Who shall I contact
Emergency Police - 17 (by phone)
By telephone
Dial 17 in the event of an emergency involving a road accident, a breach of public order or a criminal offense. A team of police or gendarmes will be on hand.
You can also dial the 112. You will then be directed to the right service according to your case. The 112 can be used in all European Union countries.
If the situation is not an emergency, call your local police or gendarmerie.
Who shall I contact
European emergency number - 112
112
Emergency number to be used for a call from a European country or from a mobile phone
24/7
Free call
You can't call
114 is the emergency call relay service if you are unable to speak on the phone (deaf, hard of hearing ...) or if it could put you in danger.
Who shall I contact
Deaf and hard of hearing emergency number - 114
By SMS at 114
Free 24/7 access
Via the emergency mobile application 114 or the website www.urgence114.fr
Free 24/7 access
Contact possible via:
- Video telephony: I communicate in sign language
- Chat: I communicate in writing
- Voice / Return text: I speak and 114 responds to me in writing (or vice versa)
An instant messenger (chat) allows you to chat with a police officer or a member of the gendarmerie. Chat history can be deleted from your computer, mobile phone or tablet at any time.
You can go to the Defender of Rights.
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On the spot
You can make an appointment with a representative of the Defender of Rights.
Who shall I contact
By mail
Who shall I contact
Defender of Rights
By telephone (general information)
09 69 39 00 00
Cost of a local call
From Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm
By post (to lodge a complaint with the Defender of Rights) By free post, without postage
Defender of Rights
Free answer 71120
75342 Paris cedex 07
Attention: attach photocopies of the documents relating to your referral to your post.
By E-mail
Access to contact form
Who shall I contact
Referral to the Advocate may lead to three solutions:
- Mediation : appointed by the Defender of Rights, the Ombudsman hears the persons concerned. Mediation may not exceed 3 months renewable once
- A transaction :: the Defender of Rights proposes one or more sanctions to the perpetrator (payment of a fine, compensation to the victim, publicity of the facts). In case of agreement, the transaction must be validated by the public prosecutor
- A lawsuit If the Defender of Rights becomes aware of facts which may constitute an offense or if the author refuses the transaction, the Defender of Rights shall bring the matter before the Public Prosecutor
Warning
a referral to the Defender of Rights alone does not suspend limitation periods before the courts. The deadline for filing a complaint remains limited to 6 years.
You can file a complaint on the spot or by mail in a six-year period after the fact.
On the spot
You must go to a police station or a gendarme brigade of your choice.
You may not be refused the receipt of the complaint.
The complaint is then forwarded to the public prosecutor by the police or gendarmerie.
By mail
You can file a complaint with the public prosecutor.
We need to send a free-form letter the court of law of the place of the offense or of the domicile of the offender.
Who shall I contact
The letter should specify the following:
- Your marital status and full contact information (address and telephone number)
- Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
- Name of the alleged perpetrator if known (otherwise, the complaint will be filed against X)
- Names and addresses of any witnesses to the offense
- Description and provisional or definitive estimate of the damage
- Evidence: medical certificates, work stoppages, miscellaneous invoices, findings ...
- Willingness to take civil action
File a complaint with the public prosecutor
Who shall I contact
You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, by simple letter or by letter followed.
You can also file your complaint directly at the courthouse.
In any case, a receipt is given to you as soon as the Public Prosecutor's Office has registered your complaint.
If the discrimination was committed in a professional context (refusal of a promotion, unfair dismissal, discrimination in hiring...), you can enter:
- The labor council for the private sector
- The administrative tribunal public sector. You can also take advantage of the functional protection.
Please note
a person who denounces discrimination, but does not suffer it himself, cannot be subject to professional sanctions.
General case
The perpetrator faces up to three years in prison and €45,000 of fine.
In order to obtain compensation for the damage, you as a victim can to be a civil party.
Discrimination in an administration
If the perpetrator is a public official (in a city hall, a prefecture, in Pôle emploi...) and committed the acts in the course of his duties, the sentences can be up to 5 years in prison and €75,000 of fine.
In order to obtain compensation for the damage, you as a victim can to be a civil party.
Cases of discrimination and criminal sanctions
Discrimination at work
Permissible inequality of treatment in the private sector
Criminal sanctions for a public official
FAQ
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Ministry of the Interior