- Interrupted by the coronavirus epidemic, several texts piloted by the Ministry of Justice must be examined in the coming months.
- Supported by Nicole Belloubet, the new Criminal Code for minors and the strengthening of criminal environmental law are on the agenda.
- Upon his appointment, the new Prime Minister Jean Castex expressed his desire to “go quickly” on pension reform, an explosive subject for the future Minister of Justice who will have to face the anger of lawyers, fiercely opposed to this project.
"We would like things never to stop". At the microphone of France Inter, on June 30, the Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet was already nostalgic. Given starting from the government even before the appointment of the new tenant of Matignon Jean Castex, the Keeper of the Seals was not renewed.After three years at Place Vendôme, this legal professional, unknown to the general public upon her arrival at the Ministry, will give way to criminal lawyer Eric Dupond-Moretti.
And if Nicole Belloubet reluctantly abandons her morocco, it is because the minister was to bring in the coming months several reforms suddenly interrupted by the coronavirus epidemic and containment. Pending construction sites that will soon have to be taken over by the ex-lawyer of Mohammed Merah's brother. What are they and what difficulties might be encounteredthe new Keeper of the Seals? 20 Minutes takes stock.
Resuming dialogue with lawyers on pension reform
"I want to act quickly". Barely appointed, the new Prime Minister Jean Castex expressed his desire to go after the pension reform in an interview given this weekend to the Sunday Journal . An accelerated calendar which could relaunch the social movement engaged for more than three months everywhere in France and stopped dead by the epidemic of Covid-19. Strongly mobilized during these demonstrations, lawyers have been demanding, since the start of the examination of the text, the outright withdrawal of the reform.
Needless to say, doubling the fees for # lawyers who compete in the #justice public service and who suffer from the lack of hearings since the beginning of the year would not really be perceived as #gaullismesocial @JeanCASTEX
- CNBF (@CNBFrance) July 6, 2020A strike that has affected many bars and which could resume with the continuation of the reform. Intractable on this file, the lawyers denounce a project "endangering" their profession and having the effect of doubling their contributions. Received several times by Nicole Belloubet, the representatives of the profession never reached an agreement. Already severely slowed down by the partial cessation of activity between March and May, the justice system could suffer from a resumption of “hard” strikes in the jurisdictions. Himself mobilized against the reform last January, Eric Dupond-Moretti will therefore have the heavy task of resuming dialogue with his colleagues while carrying the policy of the government.
Implement the juvenile criminal justice code
The announcement created a surprise. Taking advantage of the review of the justice reform project in November 2018, Minister Nicole Belloubet announced that she wanted to modify the founding text of juvenile justice. After six months of consultation, the Chancellery had set to work on the "grooming" of the 1945 ordinance. Threshold of criminal irresponsibility fixed at 13 years, creation of a new procedure in two stages and limitation of pre-trial detention appear in particular in this project for a new “Criminal Justice Code” for minors.
Initially scheduled for October 1, 2020, the date of entry into force of the text was finally postponed to March 31, 2021. A time lag which should allow Parliament to debate and table any amendments. But the debates could be heated for the new minister in charge of continuing the reform since several professionals denounce a lack of means for a good application of this Code. In an open letter addressed to the former minister last May, the "Justice des enfants" collective demanded that this text be abandoned.
Complete the environmental criminal law reform
This is the other major project started by Nicole Belloubet before the Covid-19 epidemic. Already adopted by the Senate in March, this text aims to improve the systems concerning specialized criminal justice and more particularly that concerning environmental delinquency. The text would create in the 36 existing courts of appeal a specialized court with dedicated magistrates to deal with "serious damage" to the environment such as pollution generated by industrial activities or damage to protected species or areas. Transmitted to the National Assembly, this reform must still be examined by the law commission and debated by the deputies.
Maintain post-coronavirus prison population figures
If the cessation of judicial activity had the consequence of clogging up the courts at the end of confinement, it allowed France to greatly reduce the number of detainees in French prisons. Condemned several times by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for its chronic overcrowding and degraded conditions of detention, France has managed to bring down the average occupancy rates of prisons.
With a drop of 13,500 prisoners since March 16, French prisons reached a filling rate of 97% last May, or 59,000 people imprisoned for 61,100 places. A balance sheet deemed "positive" by Nicole Belloubet who had announced in May to the deputies of the Law Commission her desire to "extend" certain measures deployed during the health crisis such as the early releases for certain prisoners who had carried out almost all of their sentences .
But the new minister could push in favor of other more radical solutions to unclog prisons. If Nicole Belloubet remained firmly opposed to a law of "amnesty" throughout the confinement, Eric Dupond-Moretti spoke to him in favor of such a measure. Interviewed by Europe 1 on May 18, the penalist was moved by this endemic overcrowding: "We have so many people in jail in such inhuman and degrading conditions. We had to get some oxygen ”.
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