justice reform takes effect

Legacy of the French Revolution, the popular jury disappears with this reform of justice for all judgments in the first instance of crimes punishable by up to twenty years’ imprisonment, essentially rape, i.e. approximately half of the cases for which citizens are called currently sitting. And it is also a revolution in the French judicial world since the assizes will see their field of competence reduced. The crimes, punishable by less than twenty years in prison, will be attributed to professional magistrates. Objective: to process certain files more quickly.

In the judicial world, this reform is denounced by some as a regression. Before its entry into force, its detractors mobilized to ” save the foundations »through motions, a petition or a bill from the EELV deputy Francesca Pasquini.

Citizens excluded in order to save money

” It poses a democratic problem to deprive citizens of this symbol, but a symbol which is important, of dispensing justice in the most serious cases, estimates Me Guillaume Martine, member of the Council of the order of lawyers of the Paris bar, at the microphone of Moissonniere Marine. It is obviously for the citizens who are selected by lot a task which is very heavy, but it is a task which is noble and which seems essential to me. And today, when we are told that we must bring the citizen closer to justice, the only place where he has the possibility of participating in the development of justice, that is to say the courts of t the assizes, the citizen is today expelled from it since more than half of the cases, which until now passed in court of assizes, will escape from now on since they would be judged within the framework of the criminal courts. »

For this lawyer, behind this reform, there is above all a preponderant reason which is to save money, “ because mobilizing jurors costs money, since they are compensated for the time they spend judging. But even this objective, we are not even certain that this reform can achieve it “.

Cases that arrive at trial “six months faster”

The criminal courts, already tested in fifteen departments for three years, are now generalized throughout the territory. This reform does not mean absolutely not » the end of popular courts, assured the Keeper of the Seals, Éric Dupond-Moretti, recalling that « in the event of an appeal, the case is judged by the traditional assize court and that the most serious crimes still fall outside the jurisdiction of the departmental criminal courts (CCD).

Since 2019, these criminal courts have allowed the cases concerned to arrive at trial “ six months faster “, according to the Keeper of the Seals. The 387 cases judged by the criminal courts required 863 hearing days, when it would have taken 982 in the assize courts, estimates the evaluation and monitoring committee of the CCDs.

But a generalization of criminal courts “ without dedicated means”

For the Union of Magistrates (USM), this gain ” minimal “in time is” wiped out by a higher call rate ”, of 21% for the criminal courts against 15% for the assizes according to the first evaluations, when sentences pronounced and rate of acquittal are similar. The majority union, favorable in principle to CCDs, opposes their generalization ” without dedicated resources “.

The evaluation committee also pointed out ” imperative necessity » of a « substantial recruitment of magistrates and clerks “. In the courts, there is great concern about the lack of staff and courtrooms.

Given the hearing delays, the criminal courts will operate at full capacity only in ” second half of 2023, or even 2024 “.

►Read also: In France, magistrates, lawyers and clerks are mobilizing against “a discount justice”

(and with AFP)