This is one of the three components of the reform prepared by the Ministry of Justice after the explosion of the Duhamel affair, of “MeTooInceste” and of many cases such as “SciencesPorcs” or those of high-level sportswomen.
Faced with the release of the word of victims of sexual offenses and in particular of incest, the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti asked prosecutors to "systematically" open an investigation, even if the facts are likely to be prescribed.
A lever that can be operated without a law being discussed and adopted.
The Minister of Justice had already announced on February 9 that he would ask the prosecution for these systematic openings of investigations, while the terrible testimonies have multiplied, often relating the injury that no institutional aid was provided to the victims when 'finally they managed to break the silence.
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"If some of these testimonies are particularly publicized, they should not lead us to forget that reality is made up of multiple other victims, who do not access these communication relays but for whom the suffering is identical", writes Éric Dupond -Moretti in this note to magistrates dated Friday, which AFP consulted on Monday.
"It seems to me essential […] to systematically initiate a preliminary investigation" when old facts are revealed, "liable to be covered by the limitation period", explains the Minister of Justice.
“The purposes […] are multiple,” he continues.
The investigations must initially make it possible to "verify whether, with regard to the date of the facts denounced, these, supposing them constituted, would be prescribed".
The investigations must then make it possible to discover, if they exist, other victims.
And if for those, the facts were not prescribed, to have legal matter to prosecute the aggressor and put an end to his actions.
This should also allow "a person implicated to explain the charges against him", within the framework of a hearing which "guarantees respect for the presumption of innocence from which he benefits".
The Keeper of the Seals also asks that at the end of the investigation, the decision to classify her because of the statute of limitations of the facts be "brought to the attention of the victims".
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It also calls on the prosecution to clarify whether, despite the limitation period, the facts denounced do indeed constitute an offense or if the offense does not appear to have been constituted.
In this case, "if the procedure has been the subject of media coverage, the public prosecutors must make the reasons for this classification public in order to put an end to the spread of slanderous information", claims Éric Dupond-Moretti .