"This text is a revolution."At the start of the week on RTL, Éric Dupond-Moretti did not hide his enthusiasm about his reform of criminal justice for minors.The text, which is to come into force this Thursday, September 30, aims to judge them in a faster way."There was no deadline before.This means that a kid who was committing an offense could be tried two years later, when he had become an adult (...).It was lost judicial time.It was mainly lost educational time, "added the Minister of Justice.

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Launched by Nicole Belloubet, this reform reshuffled the 1945 ordinance on delinquent childhood.Its main measure aims to separate the criminal procedure for minors in two stages.With a first step to declare their guilt, then a second to decide on their sanction.But to fully understand the nature of change, it is necessary to recall how, until today, the criminal journey of under 18s.

A period of 18 months

When a minor was suspected of an offense, he was presented to a children's judge who could indicate him.An investigation procedure was launched, with educational measures.The goal, then, was to rely on educators or psychologists to collect information on the school, family, health, social situation of the young and his family.

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All these elements allowed the judge to make a more informed decision during the judgment hearing.It was then that the magistrate was pronounced both on the guilt of the minor and the sanction.The problem, according to the Chancellery, is that it flows on average 18 months before the pronouncement of this judgment.The reform therefore aims to shorten the deadlines which will no longer have to exceed 12 months.

From now on, the procedure will therefore be separated in two.Within a relatively brief period (10 days to three months), the minor will be presented to a children's judge who may, in view of the file, declare his guilt.The minor will leave this hearing by knowing the date of the hearing during which his sanction will be pronounced.Which was not the case until then.In the process, he will have to start a period of "educational test" lasting 6 to 9 months.

"This educational work will then be more fruitful.Until then, he was led when the young person was still presumed innocent.He and his parents did not always understand the meaning of educational action.There, the educational test will make sense since the young person will have been found guilty by justice.Without waiting for the pronouncement, it will even be possible to initiate a compensation procedure for the victims, "said the entourage of Éric Dupond-Moretti,.

« On risque de juger très vite des mineurs sans suivi éducatif»»

However, two exceptions are provided for in this general scheme.In some cases, the minor can quickly appear during a "unique" audience.The judge will then be able to declare his guilt but also, at the same time, announce the sanction.Without waiting, therefore, the educational phase of 6 to 9 months.

"This single hearing can be decided by the children's judge if he considers that the educational test is not necessary and if he considers himself sufficiently informed about the individual.This may be the case, for example, for recurrent minors who have already been the subject of educational measures in the past, "said the ministry.

→ to read.These delinquent minors who repeat again and again

In other cases, this single hearing may even be requested by the prosecution as soon as it came out of police custody of the minor."With these exceptions, there is a risk of quickly judging minors without educational monitoring.Some may even be the subject of immediate, quite expeditious appearance, as if they were adults, "worries Lucille Rouet, children's judge in Paris and national secretary of the magistrates' union.

« On ne s’est pas vraiment posé la question des moyens»»

Another strong concern relates to the ability of certain courts to deal with this obligation to rule within faster deadlines.If many minors are not tried before 18 months, it is mainly due to a work overload of educators and judges."To accompany this reform, 72 magistrates and 100 clerks will come in reinforcement," said the ministry.

This does not really reassure Laurence Bellon, president of the Marseille children's court."The architecture of the text is intelligent but we have not really asked ourselves the question of the means," she insists.Result, we weigh the right application of this reform on the individual responsibility of each magistrate.And the risk is that by giving priority to these new criminal procedures, we degrade the processing of civil files, the situation of which is also sometimes very critical.»»