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

The text aims "to strengthen the authority of the justice system over juvenile offenders and their parents." On Thursday, June 19, the Constitutional Council censored several key articles of Gabriel Attal's bill to toughen juvenile justice, adopted by Parliament in mid-May, including the one reversing the principle of mitigating sentences for minors .

In total, the Sages declared six articles unconstitutional, one of which was only partially unconstitutional. The Council had been contacted by left-wing parliamentarians, who believed that many articles of this law, introduced by the leader of the Macronist deputies in the National Assembly and supported by Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, were contrary to the principles of juvenile justice in France.

In particular, they asked him to censor the article reversing the principle of the "minority excuse", 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 ignores "the principle of mitigating the criminal responsibility of minors based on age, which is a constitutional requirement." Other key measures censored include the creation of an immediate appearance procedure for repeat offenders aged 16 and over, and a single hearing procedure.

For the first, the 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.