Juvenile Justice: Constitutional Council Censors Several Key Articles of the Attal Law

On Thursday, June 19, the Constitutional Council censored several key articles of Gabriel Attal's bill to toughen juvenile justice, adopted in mid-May by Parliament, including the one reversing the principle of mitigation of sentences for minors. In total, the Sages declared six articles (one of which was only partially) of this text, which aims "to strengthen the authority of justice over juvenile offenders and their parents," unconstitutional.

The Council had been approached by left-wing parliamentarians, who considered that many articles of this law, introduced by the leader of the Macronist deputies in the Assembly and supported by the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin , were contrary to the principles of juvenile justice in France. In particular, they asked it to censor the article reversing the principle of the "excuse of minority" , according to which a minor is punished less severely than an adult.

The adopted text provided that the mitigation of sentences for minors over 16 years of age, for cases of repeat offenses punishable by at least five years of imprisonment, would no longer be the rule, but the exception. In this case, it was up to the judge to justify the mitigation of the sentence. For the Sages, the article disregards "the principle of the mitigation of the criminal responsibility of minors based on age, which is a constitutional requirement."

Other key measures that were censored included the creation of an immediate appearance procedure for repeat offenders aged 16 and over, and a single hearing procedure. For the first, the Constitutional Council considered that this new provision contravened the fundamental principles of juvenile justice, in that they require "the establishment of appropriate procedures to seek educational and moral recovery."

This is a constitutional principle inspired by the 1945 ordinance establishing the rules of criminal procedure specific to minors in France, and often invoked in the chamber by left-wing MPs during debates: the primacy of education over repression.

On the other hand, the Council declared several articles to be in conformity, including the one creating an aggravating circumstance for the penalties for the offence of a parent's failure to fulfil their legal obligations, when this directly led the minor child to commit a crime or an offence.