A vast investigation launched by the Paris prosecutor's office on the management of the crisis

Since the start of the crisis, and in particular of the confinement, the Paris prosecutor has received several complaints concerning the health crisis arising from the coronavirus epidemic. To give a judicial response, Rémi Heitz decided to open Monday a vast preliminary investigation into the criticized management of the Covid-19 crisis in France, targeting in particular the heads of "involuntary homicides" or "endangering the life of 'others'.

"It is not there to define political or administrative responsibilities but to uncover possible criminal offenses" of national decision-makers underlined the chief of the parquet floor. With the exception of the Head of State, who is criminally irresponsible, and members of the government, whose responsibility falls to the Court of Justice of the Republic, seized of 80 complaints.

#Coronavirus: An epidemic of legal complaints against the government https://t.co/h0wVsHY8Eh by @vvantighem # COVID2019 #Justice

Those concerned by this survey are grouped together in a “hat survey”, an agglomeration of 13 procedures devoted to complaints from trade unions or associations, as well as a fourteenth covering 33 complaints, the vast majority of which are individuals, arising from complaints- types of the plaintecovid.fr website.

Criminal offenses?

The investigations have been entrusted to the Central Office for combating damage to the environment and public health and relate to questions of protection at work or the provision of masks and tests.

"If there are criminal faults, they are very likely - it is a hypothesis - unintentional faults. However, the law sets precise conditions for establishing these crimes: it requires proof of a "qualified fault" which is not mere recklessness or negligence, "noted the prosecutor, adding that for this type of offense," the Criminal Code clearly states that the responsibilities "of the decision-makers" must be assessed in the light of the means and knowledge available to them at the time of the decisions ".

This survey does not cover the management of the crisis in the nursing homes, which are the subject of local surveys to date, including two in Paris, but also in Nanterre or Grasse.

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