French vocabulary: Crime, Law and Justice
Reading time: 2 minutes Difficulty: Intermediate- Advanced
Let’s talk about law and justice. Whether your exposure to the world of crime is limited to suspense television shows and action books, or you’re the more hands-on, living-on-the-edge type (oh, you little rebel!), law talk always appears every now and then.
And of course, big words like this need to be interpreted perfectly, otherwise, horrible misunderstandings could well land you somewhere undesirable.
So for this vocabulary list, we give you some useful French words related to law, justice, and crimes. Who knows, this might come handy sometime soon. If it doesn’t, then simply bask in the knowledge that you know these law words – in French.
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| Crime | Le crime |
| Offence | L’infraction (f) |
| Offence, crime | Le délit |
| Fine, parking ticket | La contravention |
| Hardened criminal | Le criminel endurci |
| Attack, assault, mugging | L’agression (f) |
| Assailant | Un agresseur |
| To mug | Agresser |
| To stab | Poignarder |
| Manslaughter | L’homicide involontaire (m) |
| Murder | Le meurtre /L’assassinat (m) |
| Murderer | Le meurtrier/la meurtrière / L’assassin/l’assassine |
| Rape | Le viol |
| Rapist | Le violeur |
| To abduct | Enlever |
| Kidnapping | L’enlèvement (m) |
| Abduction | Le rapt |
| Kidnapper | Le kidnappeur/la kidnappeuse |
| Kidnapper | Le ravisseur/la ravisseuse |
| Hostage | L’otage (m/f) |
| Ransom | La rançon |
| Burglary | Le cambriolage |
| Burglar | Le cambrioleur |
| To loot | Piller / Mettre à sac |
| Hold up | Le hold-up (m) |
| Gangster | Le gangster |
| Robbery | Le vol avec violences |
| Bribery | La corruption |
| Open to bribery | Corruptible |
| Bribe | Le pot de vin |
| Blackmail | Le chantage |
| To blackmail | Faire chanter / Soudoyer |
| Extortion | L’extorsion (f) |
| Fraud | La fraude |
| Drug pusher | Le revendeur de drogues |
| Drug trafficking | Le trafic de drogues |
| Police | La Police |
| Police station | Le poste de police |
| Emergency services | La police-secours |
| Traffic police | Les agents de circulation (m) |
| Plain-clothes policeman | Le policer/la policière en civil |
| Police dog | Le chien policier |
| Inquiry, investigation | L’enquête (f)/ Les recherches (f) |
| Interrogation | L’interrogatoire (m) |
| Private detective | Le détective privé |
| Identification | La pièce d’identité |
| Lost property office | Le bureau des objets trouvés |
| Justice | La justice |
| Trial | Le procès |
| Public prosecutor | Le procureur |
| Magistrate | Le magistrat |
| Jury | Le jury |
| Juror | Le/la juré(e) |
| Lawyer | Le/la juriste |
| Lawyer | L’avocat/l’avocate |
| Solicitor | Le notaire |
| Indictment | L’inculpation (f) |
| Defendant | L’accusé(e) |
| Proof | La preuve |
| Evidence | Les preuves (f) |
| Plaintiff | Le/la poursuivant(e) |
| Witness | Le témoin |
| To plead guilty | Plaider coupable |
| To plead not guilty | Plaider non coupable |
| To make a statement | Faire une déclaration |
| To make a testimony | Faire une déposition |
| Statement | Le constat |
| Confession | L’aveu (m) |
| To charge | Inculper |
| To appeal | Interjeter l'appel |
| Court of appeal | La cour d’appel |
| La caution | Bail |
| L’acquittement (m) | Acquittal |
| Acquitter | To acquit |
| To discharge | Relaxer |
| To be found guilty | Etre reconnu coupable |
| Detention | La détention |
| Pardon | La grâce |
| imprisonment | L’incarcération (f) |
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Please tell us in the comment section if there are some vocabulary topics that you would like to review.
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About the Author Frederic
Frederic Bibard is the founder of Talk in French, a company that helps french learners to practice and improve their french. Macaron addict. Jacques Audiard fan. You can contact him on Twitter and Google +
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[…] A list of French vocabulary related to crime, justice, and laws. Because it’s cool to know them, and you’re nothing if not cool. […]
[…] See on http://www.talkinfrench.com […]
Bonjour Fréderic – j’adore votre website. Apropos, il y a une faute en anglais dans la phrase que vous avez écrite ‘Please consider to buy my vocabulary ebook and support Talk in French as the same time’: ça devait être ‘at the same time’.
J’ai corrigé merci 🙂
Oui, votre website est excellent! Ces phrases seront tres utiles pour ma prochaine visite en France….ou peut etre pas. 🙂 J’adore la photo
Ahah merci Anne 🙂
Thanks alot u helped me here alot