Making the child safe before any procedural step
The immediate priority is the child’s current safety. Where there is imminent danger or an urgent medical need, emergency and safeguarding services should be contacted without waiting for legal advice or a formal complaint. If the alleged conduct occurred within the family or home, identify a safe adult and accommodation that will not return the child to contact with the person concerned.
Criminal proceedings and child-protection action can run in parallel. A safeguarding report, referral to child-welfare services, protective court order or emergency decision does not replace a criminal complaint, but it may address the immediate danger while the investigation establishes what happened.
Receiving an account without repeated retelling
If a child speaks spontaneously, listen without repeatedly questioning them or offering possible answers. Separately record the date, context of the disclosure and the exact words you remember, then leave detailed questioning to trained professionals. This protects both the child and the reliability of the account.
For specified offences under French criminal procedure, the interview of a child victim during the investigation or judicial inquiry is audiovisually recorded. The recording remains confidential; one purpose is to make it available within the proceedings without unnecessarily exposing the child to further interviews.
Filing a complaint and preserving a record
A child victim may file an ordinary criminal complaint, alone or accompanied, at a police or gendarmerie station. A complaint may also be sent to the public prosecutor. The police or gendarmerie cannot refuse to record a complaint within their remit and will forward it to the prosecutor.
Prepare the known dates and places, the alleged perpetrator’s identity or description, possible witnesses and a list of existing material, without requiring the child to produce an exhaustive written narrative. Ask for the receipt and, where available, a copy of the interview record, then keep the case reference and date of every step.
Representing the child in the proceedings
An ordinary complaint reports the alleged offence. Joining the proceedings as a French partie civile is a separate step that enables the child victim to exercise procedural rights and seek compensation. A non-emancipated child cannot do this alone and is represented by the legal representatives.
Where those representatives do not adequately protect the child’s interests, are themselves implicated or disagree about how the case should proceed, the court may appoint an ad hoc administrator. That person represents the child’s interests for the relevant proceedings and may take part in choosing the lawyer.
Documenting harm over time
Keep medical certificates, treatment records, prescriptions, expense receipts, school correspondence, evidence of missed activities and any protective order. File originals by date and provide copies; a simple table can connect each document to physical, psychological, educational or financial harm.
A child’s harm may evolve. Medical, psychological or educational follow-up is not merely evidence: it first addresses the child’s needs. A compensation claim can be updated as new material becomes available without repeatedly asking the child to recount the alleged events.
Discuss your situation
You can send the firm the essential facts, relevant dates and any known deadline.
Frequently asked questions
Can a child file a complaint without the parents?
Yes. A child may file an ordinary complaint alone or accompanied. A non-emancipated child must, however, be represented in order to join the proceedings as a civil claimant and exercise the rights attached to that status.
Who acts if a parent is implicated?
Where the child’s interests are not adequately protected by the legal representatives, the judicial authority may appoint an ad hoc administrator to represent the child in the proceedings.
Should the child repeat the account to prepare the complaint?
No. Receive any spontaneous disclosure, record its context briefly and preserve existing material. Detailed questioning should be left to the relevant professionals to avoid unnecessary repetition and suggested wording.