What protection does an assaulted public official have at work?

Verified 30 January 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If you are victim of an assault in the course of your work or if you are prosecuted because of your professional activity, your employer administration must protect you and assist you. This protection that your employer administration needs to provide is called the functional protection. We present the conditions for its implementation.

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You're a victim of an assault

You can benefit from the functional protection of your employer administration if you are victim of an assault in your capacity.

This provides functional protection in the following situations:

This list is not exhaustive.

Functional protection can also be granted in case of damage to your property (for example, in case of damage to your vehicle).

The assault may take place during or outside your working time as soon as the causal link between the damage caused and your duties is established.

For functional protection, you must not have made any personal mistakes.

You are being sued because of your professional activity

You can benefit from the functional protection of your employer administration if you are sued for a malfunction.

This provides functional protection in the following situations:

  • You are prosecuted, before criminal or civil courts, for acts which occurred in the course of your duties
  • You are heard as assisted witness for acts which may constitute a criminal offense and which occurred in the course of your duties
  • You are placed in police custody, or you are offered a measurement of penal composition, for acts which may constitute a criminal offense and which occurred in the course of your duties

For functional protection, you must not have made any personal mistakes.

You can benefit from the protection of your employer's administration whether you are official or contractor.

If you are former public official (civil servant or contract employee), you can benefit from the protection of the administration which employed you at the time of the facts in question.

Functional protection may be granted by your employer administration to your spouse, your partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or your common-law partner, to your children and to your ascendants direct in case ofwillful interference with the integrity of their person because of your duties.

Functional protection may be granted by your employer administration to your spouse, your partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or your spouse who takes legal action in the event ofwillful harm to your life.

In the absence of any action taken by your spouse, functional protection may be granted by your employer administration, in the event of a deliberate infringement of your life, your children or your direct ascendants.

Prevention and protection in the event of aggression

Your employer's administration must prevent or take appropriate measures to put an end to the attacks to which you or your relatives are or may be subjected.

In addition, if your employer administration is informed of the existence of a clear risk of serious injury to your physical integrity, it shall without delay take on a precautionary basis, appropriate emergency measures to stop this risk.

Such measures shall be implemented for the period strictly necessary for the cessation of the risk.

Legal assistance

In the event of an assault, your employer's administration must repair the harm that may result for you or your loved ones.

If you are the subject of criminal proceedings for lack of service, your employer's administration must give you its protection.

In case of misconduct, your civil liability cannot be engaged.

If, however, you are sued by a third party for lack of service and the court seised has not been declared incompetent, your employer's administration must cover you for civil convictions handed down against you.

Reminder

To be eligible for functional protection, you must not have committed any personal fault.

If you take legal action as a result of an assault or if you are prosecuted for a fault of service, your employer administration will cover your costs of the proceedings in whole or in part.

You are free to choose your lawyer and organize your defense strategy.

Your employer administration can assist you in choosing a lawyer.

Your employer administration may enter into an agreement with the lawyer you have appointed or accepted and, possibly, with you.

The agreement determines the amount of the fees paid by your administration.

It shall lay down the conditions under which the other procedural costs are to be met.

Your employer's administration pays the costs provided for in the agreement directly to the lawyer.

In the absence of an agreement, you will be paid for the costs directly upon presentation of the invoices.

Where your employer administration has made good the damage suffered by you or your relatives, it may, in your place, take legal action against the perpetrators of your assault to recover from them the repayment of the sums paid to you.

To be eligible for functional protection, you must make a written request to your employer authority on the date of the facts in question.

You must provide proof of the facts for which you are seeking functional protection.

There is no statutory time limit for requesting protection.

In case of refusal, your administration must inform you in writing.

Your administration must give you the reasons for its refusal and indicate the means and time limits of appeal.

Failure to reply within 2 months of receipt of your request shall be deemed to constitute an implied refusal decision.

The decision to grant functional protection constitutes a rights-creating decision.

Thus, functional protection cannot be retroactively withdrawn more than 4 months after its signature, even if it turns out that you have committed a personal error.

However, removal is possible if functional protection has been obtained by fraud.

On the other hand, functional protection may be revoked if it turns out that you have committed a personal error or if the facts relied on in support of the application for protection are not established.