279 objects found on the public highway were deposited by citizens in the premises of the municipal police of Thionville in 2022. The Civil Code defines who owns what was brought by the person called the inventor. And a municipal decree specifies the terms. We take stock.
EC – Today at 05:00
To begin, let’s set the scene, from a legislative perspective. Article 713 of the Civil Code provides that so-called “ownerless” objects, brought by a citizen who found them in a public space, belong to the municipality in the territory where they are located unless the municipality renounces them. This article is backed by another, article 2276, which provides that the person who holds an object is presumed to be its owner, but that if the object has been stolen or lost, the true owner has three years to claim it from the who owns it.
In reality, few people are truly aware of this legal framework. A rumor even claims that whoever deposits an object can claim ownership of it after a year and a day.
One thing is certain, for the municipal police officers of Thionville, “recovering what is brought requires real management,” explains Vanessa Gardien, head of department. Each item is recorded, numbered and entered into the public management portal. Except the bunches of keys, which we no longer know what to do with because there are so many of them. »
“Custody period”
Jewelry, telephones, wallet… Depending on the nature of the items, the “custody period” and their fate differ if no one claims them. For valuable objects, for example, the municipal police (PM) keeps them for one year. In the absence of a complaint, they are sent to the State Real Estate Directorate (formerly the Customs service) for public sale or to a subcontractor. “The keys are destroyed after a year. The official papers are sent to the prefecture one month later if no one requests them. Vitale cards are immediately transmitted to the lost Vitale cards center. The bikes are entrusted to Mob d’Emploi after 12 months,” adds Vanessa Gardien.
Numerous student cards submitted at the start of the school year
What other objects end up in the municipal police office at 40 rue du Vieux-Collège? “A lot of student and telephone cards in September,” notes the head of department. And also, throughout the year, cuddly toys, glasses entrusted to opticians who send them to associations, suitcases of clothes, handbags, laptops, sometimes returned by the SNCF, or papers identity cards left in the photocopiers of the Geric shopping center…”
To those who would like to cheat by bluffing on the authorship of some 266 finds stored in their premises this year, Vanessa Gardien and her superior Laurent Cavalieri advise not to try this game. A brief interrogation is enough with a few well-informed questions to ask. flee from dishonest people.
Every year in France, 35 million objects are lost. And a tiny part is returned to their owners.
#Thionville #Objects #lost #public #roads
