Justice: how does the first national center dedicated to “cold cases” work?

Europe 1 with AFP 11:26 a.m., March 2, 2022

From the assassination of "little Grégory" to the slaughter of Chevaline, a hundred unsolved criminal cases could land on the offices of the magistrates of the first national pole dedicated to "cold cases" in France, launched on Tuesday.

Within the court of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), this pole aims to keep "judicially alive" these sensitive files, according to the Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti who wanted this new entity, created by the law for confidence in the justice enacted in December.

Three experienced investigating judges

Among the three experienced investigating judges who integrate this pole figure Sabine Khéris, who had succeeded in making confess to the serial killer Michel Fourniret his role in the death in 2003 of Estelle Mouzin.

She will take on the role of first vice-president of the division.

Three prosecutors complete the team which can be expanded with "the rise of the pole", wished the prosecutor of Nanterre Pascal Prache.

French justice is currently seized of 173 unsolved crimes and 68 serial crime proceedings, according to the ministry.

The brand new specialized center will be intended to take charge of cases - murders, poisonings, acts of torture and barbarity, rape, kidnappings and kidnappings - which "present a particular complexity", explains the president of the court of Nanterre, Catherine Pautrat.

In addition to this criterion, the crimes must be serial and/or their author not yet identified, eighteen months after the commission of the facts.

But cases with national or international stakes, or "requiring a high level of technicality and expertise" will also be eligible.

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"Accompaniment and explanations at regular intervals" for families

The creation of the pole is "excellent news, even revolutionary, which will change our practices and the consideration that there may be for (these) criminal files left aside", rejoiced with AFP Me Corinne Herrmann , who forms with Didier Seban a pair of lawyers serving the families of victims of "cold cases".

These relatives concentrate all the attention of the magistrates of the pole "because there is nothing worse than not knowing", underlines Sabine Khéris with AFP.

The families will benefit from "accompaniment and explanations at regular intervals", also promises the prosecutor Pascal Prache for whom "the human stake is major".

“We start the file from zero”

How will this pole try to bring new elements to the investigations started ten, twenty, even thirty years ago?

“We start the file from scratch, we atomize it according to the skills of the staff, whether at the technological or scientific level, by re-studying seals or by making new reconstructions”, details for AFP General Fabrice Bouillié, head of the central criminal intelligence service of the gendarmerie.

This officer is also at the head of the Diane division, a multidisciplinary team of around thirty investigators, including specialists in seriality detection and behavioral and criminal matter analysts, which also relies on the 250 scientists of the Institute for Criminal Research.

This division will be closely linked with the new division, from which "we expect additional technicality", according to Pascal Prache.

Another of the added values ​​of the pole is its national dimension "likely to facilitate cross-checking", adds the prosecutor.

80 to 100 tons of files to process

An important aspect in the eyes of Me Seban who deplores that, until now, "justice operates on old geographical principles (...) and the courts do not speak to each other".

This does not allow "the putting into perspective of these murders" in France or even in Europe, believes the lawyer who, with his colleague Me Herrmann, notably represents the father of Estelle Mouzin.

The files - heavy "from 80 to 100 volumes", according to the president of Nanterre - deserve a particular focus from the examining magistrates.

But usually, "in these sprawling cases, where it takes a year to know the file, they often do not take the time" to do so, notes Me Seban.

A filing room equipped with twenty cupboards should accommodate "the ton of files that will fall to us", specifies Ms. Pautrat.

The seals will however first be kept by the courts, pending development work "from the start of the school year".

"The field of possibilities is extraordinary", summarizes, enthusiastic, Sabine Khéris.