Should we put an end to the minority excuse, this penal provision which reduces responsibility for minors? Five days after the death of young Thomas, stabbed to death on the sidelines of a ball in Crépol, in Drôme, the question returned to political debates as the perpetrators of the attack were arrested on Tuesday. However, against all expectations, the perpetrator of the fatal blows is not a minor but is a young man of 20 years old. Karl Olive, Renaissance MP for Yvelines and guest of the Great Europe 1/CNews interview, returned to the affair.
“We will never be able to put a police officer behind every French person”
For the MP, we must not mix everything up. “It is absolutely necessary, the minute these people commit a crime, that they are effectively put out of harm’s way,” recalls the deputy. But if it is necessary to severely punish the perpetrators after the investigation, “we will never be able to put a police officer behind each French person”, he tempers at the microphone of Romain Desarbres.
In response to this drama, several political figures may reflect on the end of the minority excuse. “I think it’s a subject that needs to be put on the table and that we need to be able to share together, with colleagues,” concedes Karl Olive. As a reminder, the minority excuse is decided on the discernment of the individual. Clearly, a minor cannot be punished like an adult. The minor must be “capable of discernment”. A minor, if he is under 13 years old, is not capable of discernment, according to French law.
And this excuse can be lifted between 16 and 18 years old, but this remains exceptional. On the other hand, the parents of the accused minor are not criminally responsible for the misdemeanor or crime of their children, but only civilly: it is up to them to compensate the victim. It is on these two points that the deputies could return and change the law. This week, in an interview, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin suggested “a general bankruptcy of our society by estimating that “there is a need to rethink the framework of authority”. “We must restore authority everywhere,” he insisted.