Recent news items, including the murder of young Matisse, have revived the debate around the minority excuse. What is it about ? Can it be deleted?
For several weeks, news stories marked by rare violence and whose perpetrators are often minors have followed one another. The phenomenon is such that in mid-April, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal set out the objectives of the “Grenelle” on violence against minors desired by President Emmanuel Macron. Latest news item to date: the murder of young Matisse, 15 years old, Saturday April 27 in Châteauroux. The main suspect is also 15 years old. A drama which has revived the debate on the minority excuse.
This provides for reducing the penalties incurred when it comes to minors who are “capable of discernment” and therefore aged over 13. Indeed, those under 13 are generally considered incapable of discerning the scope of their actions and therefore not reprehensible, relays the Ministry of Justice. Article 122-8 of the penal code provides, on the other hand, that “minors capable of discernment are criminally responsible for crimes, misdemeanors or contraventions of which they have been found guilty, taking into account [toutefois] account of the reduction in responsibility which they benefit from due to their age, under conditions set by the juvenile criminal justice code.” In fact, “a custodial sentence greater than half of the sentence incurred” cannot, for example, be pronounced against them. Note that a reduction in sentence is systematic when minors are aged 13 to 16, but not automatic after 16.
While the head of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, reaffirmed on April 17 on the set of BFMTV and RMC wanting “the end of the excuse of minority”, a position already defended during the riots which followed last summer the death of Nahel, the president of the Republicans of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, insisted the next day on the 24-hour news channel on the fact that “the minority excuse must no longer be the rule”. Same speech among several right-wing mayors whose municipalities have recently experienced tragedies committed by minors.
For its part, the government, through Gabriel Attal, recently said it was open to debate. A position which, however, did not fail to worry the magistrates’ unions. “To renounce the mitigation of sentences for minorities, particularly for the youngest, aged 13 to 15, is to deny that an adolescent has not yet reached full maturity,” said the French Association. of youth and family magistrates (AFMJF) in a press release published at the end of April. The debate has only just begun…