Police organisation
Gendarmerie nationale
France’s armed force instituted to see to the execution of the laws — a gendarmerie, and the other half of the pair of national forces bound by one code of ethics.
At a glance
- Official name
- Gendarmerie nationale
- System
- France
- Level of government
- National
- Kind of body
- Gendarmerie-type force
- Status
- Currently operating
- Facts last checked against sources
- 13 September 2026
What it is
Article L3211-3 of the Code de la défense states that "la gendarmerie nationale est une force armée instituée pour veiller à l’exécution des lois", and that its military missions are executed throughout the national territory. That legal character — an armed force doing police work — is what distinguishes a gendarmerie from a civil police force, and it is the model several other countries follow under different names. The same regulatory code of ethics binds it and the Police nationale, with rules particular to each.
What it covers
National territory. The article establishes the force’s legal character and the reach of its military missions; it does not establish how policing territory is divided with the Police nationale.
Broad responsibilities
- Seeing to the execution of the laws, as an armed force
- Military missions throughout the national territory
- Internal-security missions, under the shared code of ethics
Elsewhere on this site
- Who polices what — how France is structured, against other systems
Other organisations to compare
- Police nationale — France
- Guardia Civil — Spain
- Arma dei Carabinieri — Italy
Where this connects
Institutions: Gendarmerie.
Sources
Article L3211-3 du Code de la défense
République française (Légifrance) · Legislation · 2018-07-15 · link verified 2026-07-24
Supports the exact wording 'La gendarmerie nationale est une force armée instituée pour veiller à l'exécution des lois', and that its military missions are executed throughout the national territory. Version in force from 15 July 2018, last modified by Loi n° 2018-607 of 13 July 2018, article 42. Supports the gendarmerie's legal character as an armed force ONLY; it does not support any claim about territorial allocation between the gendarmerie and the police nationale, nor about equipment, tactics or deployment.
République française (Légifrance) · Legislation · 2014-01-01 · link verified 2026-08-10
Supports the exact wording of article R434-1, in force from 1 January 2014, 'Les dispositions du présent chapitre constituent le code de déontologie de la police nationale et de la gendarmerie nationale pour l'exécution de leurs missions de sécurité intérieure'; and article R434-2, that the two forces 'sont soumises à des règles déontologiques communes et à des règles propres à chacune d'elles'. Supports that one regulatory code binds both national forces. It does NOT support any claim about the content of individual duties, about enforcement of the code, or about compliance.