The Appearance on Prior Admission of Guilt (Comparution sur Reconnaissance Préalable de Culpabilité, CRPC) is a prosecution procedure commonly known as the "guilty plea". It is governed by Articles 495-7 et seq. of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The assistance of a lawyer is mandatory. The procedure requires the facts to have been admitted, most often during police custody or a voluntary interview.
A CRPC has two stages. The first is the negotiation, in which the lawyer and the public prosecutor negotiate the sentence (suspended prison sentence, fine, driving licence withdrawal, entry in bulletin no. 2 of the criminal record…).
If an agreement is reached, the second stage follows: the "approval" (homologation) of the sentence by the president of the judicial court.
A lawyer's assistance is necessary to negotiate with the prosecution the sentence best suited to the situation. This procedure can lead to a lighter sentence than the one that would have been imposed under another prosecution procedure.
It is nevertheless sometimes advisable to refuse the agreement outright and to opt for a defense at a hearing before the criminal court, particularly when a procedural defect may be raised.
Good listening skills and an understanding of the client's expectations are essential to obtain the full benefit of the guilty plea procedure.