Challenging the technical facts. Reviewing the procedure. Defending the organisation.

Pollution cannot be reduced to a sample. An overload cannot be reduced to a weighbridge ticket. And data extracted from a tachograph does not, on its own, identify who is responsible.

In these cases, the criminal accusation is often built during an inspection: observations, measurements, photographs, analyses, interviews, operating documents or digital data. Before the legal classification, there is therefore a technical fact to understand. Before liability, an organisation to reconstruct.

Vouland Avocats assists companies, their directors and their managers facing an inspection, an investigation or a trial in environmental or road transport matters. Our work combines command of criminal procedure with analysis of the administrative and technical framework specific to each activity.

Our conviction: environmental criminal law is a criminal lawyer’s job. But the criminal lawyer must be able to read a prefectoral order, challenge a measurement, understand an industrial process and identify who was really making the decisions.

An inspection is not yet a trial

Environmental inspectors, the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), the regional environmental authority (DREAL), the police and other authorised officers have powers defined by law. The framework for their action varies depending on whether they are carrying out an administrative inspection or investigating and recording an offence.

This distinction determines the powers that may be used, the conditions of access to premises, the documents that may be requested, the rules governing interviews and the safeguards available to the person inspected.

In environmental matters, official reports recording offences under the Environmental Code and its implementing texts are deemed accurate unless proven otherwise. This gives them particular weight. It does not make them irrefutable or exempt from scrutiny.

It is therefore necessary to examine, from the outset:

• the status and competence of the officers;
• the exact legal basis and framework of the intervention;
• the conditions of access to the premises, handing over of documents, sampling or seizure;
• the measurement, sampling or analysis method;
• the content of interviews and the information given to those interviewed;
• the chronology of transmission and the regularity of the official reports.

An official report is not a conviction. It is a piece of prosecution evidence that must be read both as a technical document and as a procedural act.

Environmental criminal law

Environmental criminal law is not found only in the Environmental Code. It also extends to the Town Planning, Transport, Rural and Maritime Fishing, Forestry, Mining, Public Health and Customs Codes.

We act in particular in cases relating to:

• installations classified for environmental protection (ICPE): operating without a permit, failure to comply with requirements, industrial incidents or accidents;
• pollution and discharges affecting air, water or soil;
• the collection, transport, storage, treatment or abandonment of waste;
• harm to protected species, habitats and areas;
• planning offences committed in coastal areas or protected areas;
• nuisances, industrial risks and breaches of prevention obligations;
• misleading environmental claims where they may be classified as criminal offences.

The response is not just a matter of identifying a legal provision. It requires establishing the link between a requirement, a fact, any damage and a person to whom that fact can legally be attributed.

Road transport criminal law

Roadside and on-site inspections draw on a body of European and national rules. They may cover simultaneously the driver’s activity, the vehicle, the load, the transport documents and the company’s organisation.

We assist hauliers, logistics providers, freight forwarders, shippers and fleet operators in cases concerning in particular:

• driving times, breaks and rest periods;
• the use, downloading and retention of tachograph data;
• suspected manipulation or falsification of data;
• weight, axle loads, securing of loads and dimensions;
• the condition and technical compliance of vehicles;
• licences, access to the profession, cabotage and cross-border operations;
• the transport of dangerous goods;
• vehicle immobilisation, deposits and the administrative or criminal consequences of an inspection;
• breaches recorded against a driver where they may be attributed to the company, the transport manager or a director.

The field requires a distinction between social rules, the company’s obligations, the driver’s actions and management decisions. A director’s liability is not automatic. It must be proven.

Who can be prosecuted?

The same proceedings may target the legal entity, the director, a delegate, an operations manager, a QHSE manager or a driver. Yet a job title alone is not enough to determine liability.

For each person implicated, we look at:

• the specific decision or omission alleged;
• the powers and resources actually held;
• the existence, scope and effectiveness of any delegation of authority;
• the information available at the time of the facts;
• procedures, alerts, maintenance operations and corrective measures;
• the link between the conduct alleged and the damage or risk claimed.

The criminal liability of the company is also subject to its own conditions: in particular, the offence must have been committed on its behalf by one of its organs or representatives. Defending the company therefore means identifying the person, the act and the interest to which the prosecution seeks to link the facts.

Technical evidence at the heart of the defence

In an environmental or road transport case, the legal discussion often depends on a technical fact: the origin of a discharge, whether a sample is representative, how an alarm worked, the maintenance history, how a tachograph is read, the reconstruction of a route or the calculation of a load.

Depending on the needs of the case, we work with experts and technical advisers in order to:

• reconstruct the facts and their chronology precisely;
• check the methods used during the inspection;
• discuss causation and competing hypotheses;
• distinguish a one-off incident from an organisational failure;
• compare the findings with operating data;
• preserve without delay the documents, measurements and data useful to the defence.

Technique does not replace law. It prevents the law from being applied to a misunderstood fact.

From the first visit to the trial

We act from the moment of the inspection or the discovery of an incident, and then at every useful stage:

• preparation and assistance during a visit or on-site inspection;
• organising the documentary response and preserving evidence;
• assistance during interviews, voluntary interviews or police custody;
• analysis of official reports, inspection reports, samples and digital data;
• dealings with the authorities and coordination with public law advisers or technical experts;
• defence during the preliminary investigation or judicial investigation;
• representation before the criminal courts;
• monitoring of remedial measures and parallel administrative procedures with the relevant advisers.

In the first hours, the challenge is twofold: not to obstruct the inspection, and not to allow an inaccurate reading of the situation to take hold for lack of explanation or preserved evidence.

When the company is the victim

A company may also suffer environmental harm or fraud linked to its activity: fly-tipping on a site, a discharge from a third party, falsified data, concealment of a non-compliance or a service provider’s failure.

We help it preserve evidence, identify those responsible, file a complaint and claim compensation for its losses. Criminal action is then coordinated with emergency measures, contractual remedies, expert assessments and, where appropriate, remediation.

Prevention without paper compliance

Criminal risk prevention must match the way the company actually works. A procedure nobody knows about offers little protection. A delegation without resources does not magically transfer liability.

We assist companies with:

• auditing environmental and road transport criminal risks;
• reviewing orders, requirements, permits and internal procedures;
• organising delegations of authority and alert channels;
• preparing protocols for inspections, incidents and the preservation of evidence;
• training directors, operations managers, QHSE teams and legal departments;
• scenario exercises: inspection visits, accidents, pollution or on-site inspections.

The aim is not to add a layer of paperwork. It is to make the organisation capable of preventing incidents and, if one occurs, of explaining what was decided, by whom and with what resources.

A criminal lawyer’s method

1. Reconstruct the facts

Understand the process, the equipment, the data, the route or the incident before settling on a legal classification.

2. Test the inspection

Identify the powers used, check the regularity of the operations and challenge the reliability of the findings.

3. Determine attribution

Distinguish between the company, the director, the delegate, the operations manager, the driver and third parties.

4. Defend

Choose the appropriate strategy: technical explanation, procedural argument, challenge to the offence, discussion of liability, remediation or trial.

Understand the inspection. Master the evidence. Defend the decision.

A recognised and shared practice

Vouland Avocats is listed in the 2025 Décideurs / Leaders League national ranking for environmental criminal law, in the “Strong reputation” category, with Tom Bonnifay as the named lawyer.

The firm also contributes to thinking in the field through its publications and training. Recent topics include:

• the criminal liability of legal entities for pollution;
• the attribution of accidental pollution within the company;
• the role of maintenance, alarms and on-call arrangements in the criminal defence;
• the powers of environmental inspectors and procedural safeguards;
• the consequences of environmental convictions for access to public contracts.

Examples of our work

• Defence of a transport group following an inspection concerning overloading and tachograph data.
• Assistance to a haulier after several vehicles were immobilised.
• Defence of a waste sector company prosecuted for pollution and breaches of the requirements applicable to a classified installation.
• Assistance to a manufacturer in a planning case concerning a protected coastal area.
• Defence of a logistics operator implicated after an accidental discharge.

Environmental and road transport criminal law — Marseille and Paris

Vouland Avocats has offices in Marseille and Paris and acts throughout France, in both advisory and defence matters.

Are you the subject of an inspection, an interview or a prosecution? Has an incident just occurred? The usefulness of the defence often depends on how quickly the facts and evidence are preserved.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What should be done immediately after an OFB or DREAL inspection?

Identify the framework of the inspection, keep a copy of the documents handed over or taken away, note how the operations were conducted and preserve the relevant technical data. It is prudent to centralise communications and to consult a lawyer quickly, without obstructing lawfully conducted operations.

Can inspectors enter any premises without authorisation?

No, their powers depend on the legal framework, the nature of the premises and the circumstances of the intervention. Business premises, residential areas and operations to investigate offences are not necessarily subject to the same rules. Each visit must therefore be examined on the basis of its precise legal basis.

Does pollution automatically make the company liable?

No. The offence must be established, the link with the activity demonstrated and the conditions specific to the liability of the legal entity met. The origin of the pollution, the role of third parties, preventive measures and the identification of an organ or representative may all be decisive.

Does an offence committed by a driver always implicate the director?

No. Attribution depends on the applicable provision and the facts: work organisation, instructions given, means of supervision, knowledge of the breach, delegations and the actual role of each person. Being a director is not, on its own, enough to establish criminal liability.

Can a company be the victim of an environmental offence?

Yes. It may, for example, suffer illegal dumping, pollution caused by a third party, falsified data or the concealment of a non-compliance. It may file a complaint, join the proceedings as a civil party if the conditions are met and claim compensation for the losses directly caused.

When should a lawyer be called?

As early as possible: as soon as a sensitive inspection is announced, an incident is discovered, an interview is requested or an official report is received. The first hours often determine whether evidence is preserved and whether the company’s response is coherent.