No one is above the law. However, you still need to know it. In France, the penal code, heavy with some 2,964 pages, is far from being everyone’s bedside book. We therefore often do not know what our rights are, and sometimes we can break a law without even knowing it.

But not all transgressions are equal in terms of seriousness. The law thus distinguishes between three types of offense in France:

When you commit an offense or a crime, these precedents are recorded in your individual criminal record, which can be consulted by the authorities. Traffic offenses disappear after 3 years.

If you’ve never been arrested, however, your criminal record is unlikely to contain anything. But there is a very simple and quick way to make sure.

If you would like to receive a copy of your criminal record, simply complete form 3 available at this address.

In the meantime, if you think you are following the rules to the letter, it is not excluded that you have, unwittingly and without even realizing it, broken the law on a few occasions… In our slideshow, discover these 6 offenses that you may have committed without even knowing it. (sources: legifrance, service-public.fr)