Enacted parts

---

PENAL CODE
PENAL CODE
With the participation of John Rason SPENCER QC
Professor of Law, University of Cambridge
Fellow of Selwyn College
FIRST PART
ENACTED PARTS
Articles 111-1 to
727-2
BOOK I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Articles 111-1 to 133-1
TITLE I
THE CRIMINAL LAW
Articles 111-1 to 113-1
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Articles 111-1 to 111-5
ARTICLE 111-1
Criminal offences are categorised as according to their seriousness as felonies, misdemeanours or petty offences. 
ARTICLE 111-2
Statute defines felonies and misdemeanours and determines the penalties applicable to their perpetrators.
Regulations define petty offences and determine the penalties applicable to those who commit them, within the
limits and according to the distinctions established by law.
ARTICLE 111-3
No one may be punished for a felony or for a misdemeanour whose ingredients are not defined by statute, nor for a
petty offence whose ingredients are not defined by a regulation. 
No one may be punished by a penalty which is not provided for by the statute, if the offence is a felony or a
misdemeanour, or by a regulation, if the offence is a petty offence. 
ARTICLE 111-4
Criminal legislation is to be construed strictly.
ARTICLE 111-5
Criminal courts have jurisdiction to interpret administrative decisions of a regulatory or individual nature, and to
appreciate their legality where the solution to the criminal case they are handling depends upon such examination.
CHAPTER II
OF THE OPERATIVE PERIOD OF A CRIMINAL LAW
Articles 112-1 to 112-4
ARTICLE 112-1
Conduct is punishable only where it constituted a criminal offence at the time when it took place.
Only those penalties legally applicable at the same date may be imposed.
However, new provisions are applicable to offences committed before their coming into force and which have not
led to a res judicata conviction, when they are less severe than the previous provisions.