French vocabulary: Crime, Law and Justice

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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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Without further ado, here's the vocabulary list for law, justice, and crime in French!

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)

Please tell us in the comment section if there are some French vocabulary topics that you would like to review.

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About the author

Frederic Bibard

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 Instagram

[…] 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. […]

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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’.