I had a weird situation last week where a cop stopped me without any really clear reason. I said I refused to show my papers and he started talking about fines. So I wanted to know what my actual rights are and whether I should have cooperated or not.
In France, you're required to show your ID if a cop asks for it - it's not really optional, and refusing can actually get you a fine. That said, they can't just arrest you out of nowhere without reason: they need a valid justification (traffic stop, sensitive area, or suspicion of an offense), and you have the right to ask them why they're stopping you.
It's a bit more nuanced than just "you have to obey." Technically you have the right to ask why they're stopping you, and the cop is supposed to have a legal reason (you were driving weird, there was a report about you, you're near a high-risk area, etc). If it's really without reason, you can refuse but yeah, that's at your own risk - a fine is likely. The thing is, contesting it afterward is a pain, so a lot of people just cooperate to avoid hassle, even if technically the stop wasn't legit. If you feel like you were really harassed or stopped in an abusive way, you can always file a complaint or contest the fine later, but in the moment you're not really in a position of power.
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