Toulouse. Code of Criminal Justice for Minors: “This reform clarifies and makes the sanction more understandable”
Corinne Pouit, territorial director of the judicial protection of young people – Hte-Garonne, Ariège and Htes-Pyrénées explains how the management of juvenile delinquency was carried out before this major reform and what are the positive effects expected by this new text.
The reform of juvenile justice comes into force at the end of September, an outcome?
It has been a number of years, several governments, for this new code of criminal procedure for minors to be finally adopted. The health crisis forced the report of its adoption. It was therefore promulgated on September 30.
What will actually change with this code?
The interest is at the start of justice, especially for young convicts. Before that, there was a plethora of measures which made the sanction less and less understandable.
With this reform, the deadlines will be shortened. A minor will obtain a first hearing which will have to examine his guilt and the possible reparations granted to the victim, within ten days to three months after the end of the investigation. Then, the minor will be subjected to a period of “educational probation”, lasting six to nine months. This “test” could be made up of educational measures but also of security measures, such as judicial control. At the end of this period, the second hearing will allow the judge to rule on the sanction.
What about the sanctions?
Another change is the establishment of a single measure for the minor. That is to say that instead of cumulating sanctions, there will be more than one always in this desire to clarify things. Four modules are planned: repair, insertion, health and placement. The effectiveness of the educational work to therefore be reinforced with a minor who will have become aware of the scope of the act committed. The strengthening of community service for minors is also planned.
Why was this necessary?
In Toulouse, it took about 18 months to obtain the sanction after the acts committed by a minor. So there was a loss of meaning. In 45 to 50% of cases, young people committed offenses as minors, then continued their integration, several years later, they were sanctioned by the courts. At that age, the weather is not the same.
What remains of the previous text?
A child remains a child, educational action remains a priority. We are keeping this specialty of juvenile justice, but this change is significant and will require some adaptation time. At the moment, juvenile justice is speeding up to process as many cases as possible before the measure comes into force.