Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to a year under electronic bracelet: summons, travel… and now, what will happen for the former president?

The Court of Cassation rejected Nicolas Sarkozy’s appeal on Wednesday: his sentence of one year in prison under an electronic bracelet, previously suspended, is now applicable. Here are the main steps to come for the former President of the Republic.

Terms to be determined

In its decision of May 17, 2023, which became final on Wednesday, the Paris Court of Appeal sentenced Nicolas Sarkozy to three years of imprisonment, including one year in prison and two years in prison. He is also prohibited for 3 years from voting, being elected and exercising a judicial function.

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The suspended sentence does not apply, unless the convicted person commits a new offense within 5 years. Concerning the firm part, the court of appeal decided to arrange it directly (“ab initio”) under the regime of “home detention under electronic surveillance” (DDSE), the technical term for the bracelet. However, the modalities remain to be determined.

The general public prosecutor’s office of the Court of Appeal will therefore refer this matter to a sentence enforcement judge (JAP) in Paris. This JAP will then summon Nicolas Sarkozy to appear before him, in principle within 20 days (but these deadlines may vary).

Release times

During this meeting, the convicted person must provide supporting documents that the JAP will examine in order to determine the place of assignment (home) and release times, during the week and at weekends.

For example, a convict may be allowed to leave his home between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. in order to go to work. Specific obligations can also be added, for example not to exercise a profession linked to the offense or to pay the damages to which he was sentenced (there were none in this case).

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The JAP will then issue an order which sets these terms, a decision which the convicted person cannot appeal. The judge will also determine the date on which the bracelet will be placed.

According to the law, the order must be made within 4 months after the sentencing decision, but again, deadlines may vary depending on the case.

Travel abroad

On the scheduled day for the bracelet to be fitted, surveillance agents, who report to the prison administration, go to the convict’s home. They adjust the system on site and install the device: from there, if the condemned person is not at home at the set time, an alert is triggered.

If he wants to change job, place of residence or if he wants to move abroad, the convicted person must request prior authorization from the JAP. Then, over the months, the judge will have to decide whether to grant sentence reductions to the convicted person, based on the reports from the Prison Integration and Probation Service (SPIP) which follows him on a daily basis.

Nicolas Sarkozy will be imprisoned without detention. As he will be over 70 from January 28, he will be able to apply for parole before halfway through his sentence. This request would be considered but not necessarily granted.

The electronic bracelet is the number 1 facility in France: as of November 1, 2024, 15,591 people wore one, out of a total of 96,569 prisoners, according to figures from the Chancellery.