Ask for a document · Specific to: France
France: asking for an administrative document
France module. A public body holds a document you want to obtain. This letter opens the right of access, starts the one-month period running and prepares the referral to the competent commission.
This page gives the shape of a letter, the words that fit and the public references attached to it. It does not tell you what to do about a particular case, and it does not replace the opinion of a qualified professional. The blanks marked in the letter are for you to fill in.
When this letter fits
- The document is held by a French public body, or by an organisation entrusted with a public service task.
- A report, a set of minutes, an instruction, an opinion or a file has been refused to you verbally.
- You want any refusal, if it comes, to be dated: it is the refusal that opens the next step.
When it does not fit
- The document is held by a private company: use the universal template for requesting a copy.
- What you are looking for is the data recorded about you: the letter on the right of access to your data opens a different and wider right.
- The document is already published online: there is nothing to ask for, and a pointless request holds up the others.
The letter, in full
The passages that are marked are the blanks to fill in. Paragraphs carrying a condition are written only in the case stated: the workshop does that sorting, or you do it by hand.
your town, the date
Subject: Request for disclosure of an administrative document
Reference: your file number
Dear Sir or Madam,
Under article L. 311-1 of the code des relations entre le public et l’administration (the French code on relations between the public and the administration), I am asking you to disclose the following document: document requested
If “What lets you identify it” is filled inwhat lets you identify it
If “The form you want it in” is “A file, electronically”I am asking you to send it to me electronically, to the email address given at the top of this letter.
If “The form you want it in” is “A paper copy, by post”I am asking you to send it to me by post, to the address given at the top of this letter. If charges for reproduction and postage are due, I am asking you to tell me the amount before proceeding.
If “The form you want it in” is “Consultation on the premises”I am asking you to offer me an appointment to consult this document on your premises, telling me which days and times are possible.
If the document contains material that cannot be disclosed, I am asking you to send me a version in which only that material has been redacted, and to tell me the basis for each redaction.
If your department does not hold this document, I am asking you to confirm that to me in writing and, if you know, to tell me which administration does hold it.
I would remind you that, under articles R. 311-12 and R. 311-13 of the same code, silence kept for one month from receipt of this request will amount to a decision to refuse, and will open the way to referring the matter to the Commission d’accès aux documents administratifs (the French commission on access to administrative documents) within the two-month period provided for by article R. 343-1.
I should be grateful for a reply before date the one-month period will have run out.
This letter is being sent with proof of posting retained: that proof is what dates the start of the period.
Yours faithfully,
your first name and surname
Enclosures
- No document is needed: the right of access to administrative documents does not have to be justified.
- Enclose only, where relevant, a copy of the letter or decision mentioning the document requested.
- Keep the proof of posting for yourself: it is what dates the one-month period.
The questions to answer
- The document requested
Name it as precisely as you can: what it is, its date, its author, its reference. An imprecise request is refused for imprecision.
Example: the minutes of the commission meeting of 14 March 2026, and their annexes - What lets you identify it optional
Whatever helps the department find it: a file number, a decision mentioning it, a letter referring to it. Optional, and never a justification. - The form you want it in
- A file, electronically: The quickest form, and free where the document already exists electronically.
- A paper copy, by post: Charges for reproduction and postage may be asked for.
- Consultation on the premises: Free, and suited to a bulky file.
- The date the one-month period will have run out
Count one month from the receipt of your letter by the administration, not from the day you sent it.
What to ask for, precisely
- The document named with its date and its author: that precision is what makes the difference between disclosure and a request for clarification.
- The amount of any charges before reproduction, where a paper copy is requested.
- A redacted version rather than a blanket refusal, where only part of the document cannot be disclosed, with the basis for each redaction.
- A written reply even in the event of a refusal: a written, reasoned refusal is easier to challenge than silence, even though silence amounts to a refusal.
The documents to attach
- No document is needed: the right of access to administrative documents does not have to be justified.
- Enclose only, where relevant, a copy of the letter or decision mentioning the document requested.
- Keep the proof of posting for yourself: it is what dates the one-month period.
The deadline
One month from receipt of the request by the competent administration. Once that period has passed, silence amounts to a decision to refuse, and you then have two months to refer the matter to the Commission d’accès aux documents administratifs. The two periods run one after the other: the second only opens once the first has run out, or once a refusal has been notified.
After sending
- Note the date your letter was received by the administration: that is when the month starts, and the proof of posting is what establishes it.
- With no reply after a month, the refusal exists even though it was never written down: the referral to the commission can be prepared.
- The referral is made in writing, enclosing a copy of the original request and the proof of its posting.
- If the document arrives incomplete, follow up on the missing items alone, quoting the original request.
The legal grounds
- Code des relations entre le public et l’administration, article L. 311-1
Sous réserve des exceptions prévues aux articles L. 311-5 et L. 311-6, les administrations sont tenues de publier en ligne ou de communiquer les documents administratifs qu’elles détiennent aux personnes qui en font la demande.
in plain words: You can ask an administration for a copy of the documents it holds, without saying why. It must hand them over, apart from the exceptions laid down.
checked on August 13, 2026 - Code des relations entre le public et l’administration, article R. 311-12
Le silence gardé par l’administration saisie d’une demande de communication de documents en application de l’article L. 311-1 vaut décision de refus.
in plain words: If the administration does not answer, its silence counts as a refusal. You do not need a refusal letter to take the next step.
checked on August 13, 2026 - Code des relations entre le public et l’administration, article R. 311-13
Le délai au terme duquel intervient cette décision implicite de refus est d’un mois à compter de la réception de la demande par l’administration compétente.
in plain words: The administration has one month to answer, counted from the day it receives your request. After that, the refusal stands.
checked on August 13, 2026 - Code des relations entre le public et l’administration, article R. 343-1
L’intéressé dispose d’un délai de deux mois, à compter de la notification du refus ou de l’expiration du délai prévu à l’article R. 311-13, pour saisir la Commission d’accès aux documents administratifs.
in plain words: From that refusal, written or silent, you have two months to take the matter to the Commission d’accès aux documents administratifs, the body that rules on such refusals.
checked on August 24, 2026