Youth justice laws to be overhauled
First-time offenders could avoid a trial in front of a judge and sentences could be carried out at weekends.
REFORMS to youth justice include ‘weekend prison’ to enable children to continue schooling while serving a sentence.
The reforms have been leaked in advance of their official presentation this Wednesday.
Among the proposals are that the age of criminal responsibility will be set at 12.
French law currently allows for a judge to evaluate the level of responsibility of a child at the time of the crime and has no set age limit. The age limit for imprisoning a child will be raised from 13 to 14.
According to Le Figaro the process for interviewing the under-12s will be clarified.
Other proposals include holding parents responsible if a child fails to appear for a hearing and allowing prison sentences to be served out at weekends to enable a child to continue with schooling or professional courses.
First time offenders could appear before a representative of the mairie rather than a judge – to avoid future stigmatism. The Justice Ministry hopes that such a measure would reduce the chance of reoffending.
Young offenders are currently tried in the judge’s offices but trials will be moved to special youth courts where judges will sit in their robes. According to the Ministry of Justice this will add solemnity and gravity to the proceedings.
Judges dealing with young offenders will be renamed juges des mineurs not juges des enfants.
