The subject had already been put on the table during the Shaïna affair, it is again with the Shemseddine affair. Traveling Thursday April 18 to Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) - where, at the beginning of April, a 15-year-old teenager was beaten to death by four people, including three minors - Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wanted to set a course to fight against juvenile delinquency.
Underlining the need for a
“surge of authority”
, the head of government said in particular that he wanted to
“open the debate”
concerning the question of
the “minority excuse”
, a legal principle which implies that a minor be less punished than a major.
“In vigilant respect for our constitutional principles (...) the Minister
[of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti Editor's note]
will work on it and reflect in the coming weeks with the stakeholders, to open this debate on possible mitigation to the "minority excuse, if it is possible and if it is desirable"
, declared Gabriel Attal. For his part, Éric Dupond-Moretti defended the Prime Minister's proposals this Friday morning at the microphone of RTL:
"We must look at things lucidly: juvenile delinquency has evolved and we can no longer stand idly by
. "
he said,
“the culture of excuses is over”
. Before adding that
“the culture of excuses does not mean that we forget that a kid is a kid”
.
“We consider that the minor does not have sufficient maturity to understand his act”
Two pillars govern this notion of “
minority excuse
”: first, responsibility, defined in the Penal Code, and then, discernment (i.e. the ability to judge and understand clearly and soundly an act and its consequences), defined for minors in the Juvenile Criminal Justice Code.
Thus, according to article 122-8 of the Penal Code, the principle
of "minority excuse"
provides that minors aged at least 13 and up to 17 years inclusive
"are criminally responsible for crimes, misdemeanors or contraventions of which they have been found guilty, taking into account the reduction in liability from which they benefit due to their age, under conditions set by the juvenile criminal justice code
. In other words, in France, the liability of a minor can only be incurred from the age of 13. Please note that the parents of the minor involved are not criminally responsible for their child's misdemeanor or crime, but only civilly: their only obligation is to compensate the victim.
For minors under the age of 13, the Code of Criminal Justice for Minors (which dates from 2021 and which replaces the 1945 ordinance, the reference text in matters of criminal justice for minors, which already provided for the excuse of minority ) provides that no sentence can be imposed against them, the latter benefiting from the presumption of non-discernment. Thus, minors under the age of 13 are not criminally responsible. In this sense, article 121-5 of the Code of Criminal Justice for Minors provides that “
the children's court and the juvenile court cannot impose a custodial sentence greater than half of the sentence incurred
” . “
This means that if, for example, the sentence fixed for an adult is life imprisonment, then a minor over 13 years old cannot be sentenced to more than 20 years of imprisonment, because it is considered that the minor is not does not have sufficient maturity to understand his act
,” a magistrate, a former investigating judge,
explains to Le
Figaro .
A possible exception for minors aged 16 to 17, but extremely rare
However, it would be wrong to say that the minority excuse cannot be lifted. Today, this can be done, but only by decision of the juvenile court or the juvenile court, and only for minors aged 16 to 17. “
This decision is, however, extremely rare
,” continues this magistrate, “
because it is still necessary to support this decision with evidence which shows that the circumstances of the act or the personality of the accused clearly establish that the minor had sufficient discernment at the time. time of the facts
”.
For example, in the Shaïna case, this 15-year-old girl stabbed and burned alive by a 17-year-old teenager,
the “minority excuse
” had not been lifted by the assize jury, unlike at the request of the Advocate General. The murderer was sentenced by the Oise juvenile court to 18 years in prison, which caused turmoil among the civil parties.
Another measure to stem youth violence could be taken: the Prime Minister also mentioned the possibility of establishing an immediate appearance before the court for young people
"from 16 years old"
, instead of 18 years old,
"so that they have to answer for their actions immediately, like adults, and that they be sanctioned immediately, like adults
,” insisted Gabriel Attal.