The State was condemned for "gross negligence" by the Paris court, for its "inability" to protect a woman victim of domestic violence, who was then attacked with acid by her ex-companion.
On June 12, 2018, Karim Bouembassa, 41, sprayed his ex-girlfriend and mother of their two children with sulfuric acid on a street in Marseille, near the Vélodrome stadium.
An attack which earned him a sentence of eighteen years in prison in July 2019, a sentence reduced to fifteen years by the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal in June 2020.
Several convictions for domestic violence
But the victim, threatened for several months at the time of the events, also sued the State, believing that she had not been sufficiently protected.
Karim Bouembassa had indeed been convicted several times for domestic violence against his partner and was under judicial control.
But he had violated this judicial control on several occasions, in particular by going near the home of his ex-companion on April 18 and June 6, 2018.
"The State is required to repair the damage caused by the defective functioning of the public justice service" in the event of "gross negligence", specifies the Paris court in its judgment, specifying that such a fault is characterized in case of "inability" of justice to fulfill its mission.
By this judgment, the State is ordered to pay 10,000 euros in damages to the victim, in compensation for his moral damage, as well as 3,000 euros for his legal costs.
The court also condemned the State to pay 3,000 euros to the victim for the moral damage of each of his two children.
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Justice
Marseilles
Paca
Domestic violence
Court case