Introduction

Matrix organization

Mergers by absorption

Risks related to the expansion of the scope of criminal liability of legal entities

Validity conditions

Proof of delegation

Exemption from individual liability of delegator

Attribution of offense to legal entity

Delegations of authority

Criminal risk management within business organizations

Complicity in crimes against humanity

Breaches of secrecy

Personal data breaches

Theft

Extortion

Blackmail

Fraud

Misappropriation

Receiving/concealment of unlawfully obtained property (recel)

Attacks on automated data processing systems

Money laundering

Misappropriation by public official (concussion)

Corruption and influence peddling

Unlawful acquisition of an interest

Favoritism

Forgery and use of forgeries

Violation of Criminal Code

Offenses under the Monetary and Financial Code

Offenses under the Commercial Code

Environmental Code violations

Offenses arising from other codes

Types of offenses

Offenses under the Criminal Code, the Commercial Code, or the Environmental Code, Criminal procedure

White Collar Crime (en cours)

Article 226-15 of the Criminal Code enumerates, in its paragraphs 1 and 2, the material elements of the offense of breach of the secrecy of correspondence. Paragraph 1 punishes the act of opening, deleting, delaying, or diverting correspondence that has or has not reached its destination and is addressed to third parties, or fraudulently taking knowledge of it, with one year of imprisonment and a  …

Material element

Article 226-15 of the Criminal Code enumerates, in its paragraphs 1 and 2, the material elements of the offense of breach of the secrecy of correspondence. Paragraph 1 punishes the act of opening, deleting, delaying, or diverting correspondence that has or has not reached its destination and is addressed to third parties, or fraudulently taking knowledge of it, with one year of imprisonment and a fine of EUR 45,000. Paragraph 2 extends the scope of the offense to the act of intercepting, diverting, using, or disclosing correspondence sent, transmitted, or received electronically, or installing devices likely to enable such interceptions. The first paragraph thus targets physical correspondence, while the second targets those transmitted via telecommunications.

Acts likely to permanently or temporarily deprive the recipients of the correspondence addressed to them are punished . By reading correspondence addressed to his office but bearing the name of a former associate and marked as personal, thus establishing its private nature, a lawyer commits the offense of breach of secrecy of correspondence . Similarly, assuming the identity of a third party with respect to their correspondents, whether or not the letters have reached their destination, is reprehensible, as the appearance thus knowingly created grants the defendant the exclusive right to read the correspondence addressed to that name . The installation of software that allows for keystroke spying on the victims' computer (keylogger) to intercept, without their knowledge, the access codes to their email and access emails has also been condemned .

As recalled by the Court of Cassation, paragraph 2 of Article 226-15 aims to protect correspondence sent, transmitted, or received via telecommunications, known as dematerialized correspondence because it lacks a tangible medium able to be taken physically . An electronic message is analyzed as private correspondence, with personal content, between two identifiable persons. Whether or not the recipient receives the intercepted correspondence or becomes aware of it at the time of interception is irrelevant to the classification of the offense. The use of spyware to discover the password of a mailbox protected by the secrecy of correspondence falls under the prohibition .

Cass. crim., 15 May 1990, LawLex202200002524JBJ.

Cass. crim., 3 October 2006, LawLex202200002490JBJ.

Cass. crim., 8 January 2019, LawLex202200002501JBJ.

Cass. crim., 16 January 2018, LawLex202200001625JBJ.

Cass. crim., 22 January 2013, No 12-86.594, LawLex202200003524JBJ.

Cass. crim., 10 May 2017, No 16-81.822, LawLex202200003525JBJ.

White Collar Crime (en cours)

34. Material element

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

34. Material element

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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