Traveling to Valence (Drôme), the Prime Minister presented the first update on his consultations on juvenile delinquency in France and in particular, his wish to implement a form of “immediate appearance” for minors aged 16 and over. .
This Friday, May 24, 2024, Gabriel Attal indicated that he wanted, during a progress report on his consultations on juvenile delinquency, for a bill “before the end of the year” to allow the implementation in place of a form of “immediate appearance” of minors from the age of 16. A detailed plan during a visit to Valence in the Drôme. The Prime Minister hopes that “when you are over 16, when you are a repeat offender, there can be a procedure, a bit like an immediate appearance”.
“Give additional tools to magistrates”
The first tenant of Matignon, through this novelty, wants a “court to rule on both the guilt and the sanction, immediately after the offense”. So, if “cSome 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 made it possible to shorten trial times, improve consideration of the victim and strengthen the effectiveness of educational work with the minor”, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic concedes that this should not “prevent us from already looking at whether we need to complete, enrich, give additional tools to magistrates”. The possibility of an “immediate appearance” for minors is already strongly contested by the magistrates’ unions. It’s a good proposal, but what is worrying is the permanent zigzags in relation to current events” regrets Béatrice Brugère, general secretary of the Unité FO-Magistrats union on RMC. The Union syndicale des magistrats (USM), she denounces a significant lack of resources.
The minority excuse still at the center of debates
Gabriel Attal also considered this Friday the possibility of placing young delinquents for “very short stays” in homes. The objective? “Cut the young person away from bad associates” and allow “services to assess the situation”. Placement could take place from the first serious event and within the following fifteen days. The Prime Minister also remained on the same line regarding “defaulting” parents. In other words, the sentence of community service, which exists as an alternative penalty, could be incurred “as an additional penalty for the offense of evasion by a parent of his or her legal obligations”.
It also wishes to develop the principle of “support for parenthood” with the experimentation of “parent journeys” in ten departments from 2024. The executive is counting on a target of 30% of parents supported by 2027, compared to only 4 % Today. Finally, concerning the “attenuations of the excuse of minority” in criminal convictions, the head of government recognizes “that there is no consensus on the question and its modalities”. However, he wants to “move forward for this”. As a reminder, returning to the fact that a minor is punished less severely than an adult in France “would lead France to break with its international commitments and in particular the international convention on the rights of the child” warns the collective Children’s justice in the columns of World.