Jean-Luc Boujon with AFP // Photo credits: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Gabriel Attal persists and signs: the Prime Minister reiterated on Friday that he would like a law to be passed “before the end of the year” to allow in particular an “immediate appearance” of young people from the age of 16, a measure nevertheless decried by the magistrates. The Prime Minister announced on April 19 in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) a series of proposals to deal with the “addiction to violence” of certain young people, calling for a “surge of authority”. He spoke after the death of Shemseddine, 15, beaten near his school, an event which caused immense emotion.
The head of government then launched consultations on juvenile justice and promised a “progress update” after four weeks. In Valence (Drôme), he wanted to “go faster and stronger to put an end to the feeling of impunity that can exist among our young people”, after having installed Republican Action Forces (FAR) in the city, made up of police officers, judicial police officers, educational staff and social workers, to secure neighborhoods. The FAR was launched after the riots in the summer of 2023. He reaffirmed in written statements to AFP, then in Valencia, that he wanted to put in place “a form of immediate appearance” for young people over 16, “for example in cases of aggravated violence”, “when you are a repeat offender”. This proposal is criticized by magistrates’ unions.
“Constitutional principles”
The head of government wishes to “see precisely how we write this measure to respect constitutional principles”. But it will pass, like several others, “necessarily through a bill” that he wishes to see “voted before the end of the year”.
“Some say that we should not tamper with the juvenile criminal justice code (CJPM). It is true that the first assessment of the CJPM is positive. This reform has made it possible to shorten trial times”, for all that ” should not prevent us from already looking at whether we need to complete, enrich, give additional tools to magistrates,” he explains. “We should not judge minors like adults,” told AFP Aurélien Martini, deputy secretary general of the Union Syndicale des Magistrates (USM), who sees “difficult” how such a measure could be constitutional.
He also emphasizes that judgment times in matters of juvenile justice have already been greatly shortened. “The problem,” he says, is the execution times of the sentence, which can sometimes take several months. On the “mitigations of the minority excuse” in criminal convictions, which means that a minor is punished less severely than an adult, Gabriel Attal admits “that there is no consensus”, but wants ” move forward for this.” Immediate appearance and mitigation of the minority excuse are “red lines” for the USM which points to a “glaring lack of resources” for juvenile justice. The mitigation of criminal liability due to age is “a principle with constitutional value”, going back on it “would lead France to break with its international commitments and in particular the international convention on the rights of the child”, also considered the collective “Children’s Justice”, which brings together the main professional organizations for children in the legal and associative world.
“Stays” in a hostel
The Prime Minister also raised on Friday the possibility of placing young delinquents for “very short stays” in homes. “At the first serious event, we facilitate placement in a home for around two weeks”, to “cut the young person off from bad associations” and allow “the services to assess the situation”, he maintains. On the responsibility of families, it remains prepared, for “defaulting” parents, that the penalty of community service, which already exists as a principal measure, can be incurred “as an additional penalty” for the offense of “evasion by a parent of their legal obligations”, which would mean in addition to another sentence such as prison.
“It is a pure announcement effect, and it will not change anything in judicial practice since it is already possible to order community service” for this offense, reacts Kim Reuflet, president of the Magistrates’ Union, classified on the left. Gabriel Attal also intends to develop “parental support” policies with the experimentation of “parent journeys” in ten departments in 2024. the objective is that 30% of parents will be supported by 2027, instead of 4% Currently.