Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR France

The Good Samaritan: compassion and protection

Drawn from the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a traveller left for dead who is rescued by a stranger that tends to him and sees to his care. Beyond its religious context, it carries a universal message: the moral duty to help others in danger, through compassion and altruism.

Inspired by this principle, many so-called Good Samaritan laws have been enacted around the world to protect those who assist in good faith during an emergency from legal action. The exact scope of that protection, however, varies from one jurisdiction to another: here is what the law applicable to your region provides.

Statute citation

Governing act Criminal Code, Art. 223-6 ("non-assistance à personne en danger" — failure to assist a person in danger); Law No. 2020-840 of 3 July 2020 creating the "citizen rescuer" status (Art. L721-1 of the Internal Security Code)
Scope of protection Art. 223-6 requires assisting a person in peril when it can be done without risk to oneself or a third party. Law 2020-840 grants the "citizen rescuer" the status of occasional public-service collaborator: they are exonerated from all civil liability for harm caused during their intervention, except in cases of gross or intentional fault.
Duty to rescue Yes
Penalty for failure to assist 5 years' imprisonment and a €75,000 fine (Art. 223-6 CP)
AED liability protection Protected
Statute Law No. 2020-840 of 3 July 2020 (citizen rescuer status), which expressly covers use of an automated external defibrillator (AED)
Legal duty to rescue applies AED protection

Your protection under the law

France has chosen to surround the good-faith rescuer with genuine protection. Alongside the duty to assist (Art. 223-6 of the Criminal Code), Law No. 2020-840 of 3 July 2020 created the "citizen rescuer" status (Art. L721-1 of the Internal Security Code): whoever steps in becomes an occasional public-service collaborator and is exonerated from all civil liability for harm caused during the intervention, save for gross or intentional fault. In short, acting in good faith cannot be turned against you.

Duty to rescue

In France, rescuing is not a moral option but a legal obligation: Art. 223-6 requires you to assist a person in peril whenever it can be done without risk to yourself or others. Failure to assist a person in danger is severely punished — up to 5 years' imprisonment and a €75,000 fine. Far from a threat, this framework is an invitation: the citizen-rescuer status protects you so that you can act, and training gives you the confidence to do so without hesitation.

Why training matters

In France, the law asks you to act and, since 2020, it expressly protects your intervention — including the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), covered by the citizen-rescuer status. Only one thing is still missing: knowing what to do. In a cardiac arrest, the chance of survival falls by about 10% with every passing minute, and it is the first minutes, before the ambulance arrives, that decide everything. By training, you become that first link able to give compressions, to defibrillate and to save — no longer a mere bystander, but the person who acts. Learn the lifesaving gestures: the law has your back, and being ready is up to you.