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What should be done 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 convictions. Discrimination on one of these grounds is punishable by criminal law As a victim, you can ask the court to sentence the discriminator to criminal punishment and to pay you damages.
What applies to you ?
Any distinction or difference in treatment shall be prohibited if it is based on any of the following grounds:
- Age
- Physical appearance
- Genetic characteristics
- Banking
- Health status
- Pregnancy
- Disability
- Gender identity
- Spoken language (ability to speak in a language other than French)
- Place of residence
- Mothers
- Name
- Philosophical opinions
- Political opinions
- Sexual orientation
- Origin
- Particular vulnerability related to the economic situation
- Loss of autonomy
- Alleged race, ethnicity, nationality: membership or non-membership
- Religion: belief or affiliation or non-affiliation
- Gender
- Family situation
- Syndicalism
Discrimination is direct when it is clearly visible, even displayed or claimed. For example, if a job advertisement refuses women with children.
Discrimination can be indirect when seemingly neutral measures are, in fact, significantly affecting a group of people. For example, if a bank accepts only a French ID card as proof of identity, this discriminates against foreigners.
Discrimination may include, for example, access to the following rights:
- Recruitment
- Access to housing
- Education: conditions of registration, admission, assessment
- Access to services: night club, restaurant, public building, credit...
If you are discriminated against and your situation requires urgent intervention by the police, you can alert the police or the gendarmerie.
In case of emergency, and only in this situation, it is possible to alert the police or the gendarmerie by telephone call, or by SMS if you are unable to speak.
By phone
In an emergency, when a rapid response is required, you must call the emergency police.
Who shall I contact
By phone
Dial 17 in the event of an emergency involving a traffic accident, a disturbance of public order or a criminal offense. A team of policemen or gendarmes will visit the site.
You can also dial 112..
If there is no emergency, call your police station or gendarmerie number.
By SMS
You can also send a free SMS to the 114.. If you cannot speak (danger, disability), you will then communicate in writing with your correspondent.
Who shall I contact
112
Emergency number to be used for a call from a European country or from a mobile phone
24x7
Free call
By SMS
If you have difficulty hearing or speaking, you can also send an SMS to the 114.. You will then communicate in writing with your correspondent.
Who shall I contact
114
By SMS
Free 24/7
By emergency application 114
Free 24/7
Contact possible via:
- Visiophony
- Chat
- Voice / Text Return
Through the Internet portal http://www.urgence114.fr
Free 24/7
Contact possible via:
- Visiophony
- Chat
- Voice / Text Return
You can enter the Rights Defender.
On site
You can make an appointment with a representative of the Defender of Rights.
Who shall I contact
By mail
Who shall I contact
By telephone (general information)
09 69 39 00 00
Local Call Cost
Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm
By mail (to enter the Defender of Rights) By free mail, without postage
Advocate
Free answer 71120
75342 Paris cedex 07
Attention: attach to your mail copies of the documents relating to your referral.
By Email
Access to contact form
Who shall I contact
Referral to the rights defender may lead to 3 solutions:
- Mediation :: appointed by the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman shall hear the persons concerned. Mediation may not exceed 3 months renewable 1 time
- A transaction :: the Defender of Rights proposes to the perpetrator one or more sanctions (payment of a fine, compensation of the victim, publicity of the facts). In case of agreement, the transaction must be validated by the public prosecutor
- Legal action :: if the Defender of Rights has knowledge of facts which constitute an offense or if the author refuses the transaction, the Defender of Rights shall bring the matter before the Public Prosecutor
Warning
the only referral to the Ombudsman does not suspend the limitation periods before the courts. The time limit for lodging complaints is 6 years.
You can complain on the spot or by mail in a 6 years after the fact.
On site
You must contact a police station or gendarmerie of your choice.
Who shall I contact
You cannot be denied receipt of the complaint.
The complaint is then transmitted to the public prosecutor by the police or the gendarmerie.
By mail
You can lodge a complaint directly with the public prosecutor. We need to send free paper letter the court of the place of the offense or the place of residence of the offender.
The letter must include the following:
- Civil status and full contact information (address and telephone number) of the complainant
- Detailed account of the facts, date and place of the offense
- Assumed author's name if you know him (otherwise the complaint will be filed against X)
- Names and addresses of potential witnesses to the offense
- Description and provisional or final injury estimate
- Evidence: medical certificates, work stoppages, various invoices, findings .....
- Willingness to take part in civil proceedings
Make a complaint to the public prosecutor
Who shall I contact
You can send your complaint by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by simple letter. You can also file your complaint directly at the court reception. In all cases, a receipt will be 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 seize:
- The prud'homme council for the private sector
- The administrative tribunal for the public sector. You can also benefit from the functional protection
Please note
A person who denounces discrimination, without suffering it himself, cannot be subject to professional sanctions.
Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement
General case
The perpetrator could face up to 3 years in prison and €25,000 fine.
To obtain compensation for harm, you can as a victim you constitute civil..
Discrimination in administration
If the perpetrator is a public official (in a town hall, a prefecture, at the Pole emploi...) and committed the acts in the course of his duties, the sentences can be up to 5 years in prison and €75,000 fine.
To obtain compensation for harm, you can as a victim you constitute civil..
- Penal Code: Articles 225-1 to 225-4Discrimination and criminal sanctions
- Labor Code: Article L1132-1Discrimination in employment
- Labor Code: Articles L1133-1 and L1133-6Allowed unequal treatment in the private sector
- Penal Code: rule 432-7Criminal sanctions for a public official
FAQ
- Discrimination at workService-Public.fr
- Rental discriminationService-Public.fr
- Victim assistance Ministry of the Interior