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France’s Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has instructed prosecutors to review some 70,000 outstanding child sexual abuse cases by 14 July, amid widespread backlash against the justice system’s handling of the murder of a schoolgirl in recent weeks.
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The 11-year-old schoolgirl, known in media reports as Lyhanna, went missing on 29 May in southwestern France and was discovered dead six days later. Amid an outpouring of grief, it emerged that authorities had failed to properly investigate her suspected killer, Jérôme Barella, over prior child sexual assault allegations.
Darmanin announced his plan on 8 June, stating that “not a single senior judge will go on holiday” — and nor would he — until he had met with “each and every one of the chief prosecutors” to take stock of the public situation. He set a 14 July deadline, giving prosecutors slightly more than five weeks to reach the target.
In practice, the 70,000 case threshold would mean reviewing around 14,000 cases per week on average — or more than 2,000 per working day.
The feasibility of this ambitious plan has been called into question in light of France’s notoriously slow justice system, which has among the fewest professional judges in Europe, according to data from the Council of Europe.
Plan is doable, says French government
For the French government, there’s no question about it — the “70,000 cases in five weeks” plan is viable.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told us the target was achievable because, in theory, investigators have already opened these cases and are now just reviewing them.
“The aim of reviewing these cases is not to ‘discover’ these files, as these are cases already being handled by the courts, the public prosecutor’s offices and investigators,” Sacha Straub-Kahn said.
The Ministry of Justice aims to build up a comprehensive picture of the cases and their broad details, to establish where in France they are being processed, and how many there are in each court of appeal.
“The other goal is to create a sub-priority and prioritise cases involving minors who are still minors during this time frame,” Straub-Kahn said. “When you’re 45, objectively speaking, even if the offences are serious and will be dealt with, the level of protection we expect from the justice system isn’t the same as when it’s a 12-year-old child who is still 12 and has filed a complaint.”
A big question hovering over the mass review is whether the government will unlock any additional resources to help prosecutors sift through the reams of cases. However, it appears that they will be left wanting.
Straub-Kahn said that, at this stage, a dedicated task force would not be deployed to support the judiciary with the mass review.
“This is the primary remit of public prosecutors, chief prosecutors and their teams, including deputy prosecutors,” he said. “We are well aware that this comes on top of other duties, but once again, the question is what priorities we set ourselves.”
“After 14 July, we can always discuss at the local level what additional resources — including staff — are needed to process these cases,” Straub-Kahn added.
‘A publicity stunt’
It’s a different story when it comes to private practitioners and trade unions, many of whom have poured cold water on Darmanin’s plan.
Ségolène Marquet, permanent secretary of the Magistrates’ Union and a former juvenile judge, told us that she worried that the speed of the case review could lead to mistakes.
“This really seems like a publicity stunt that won’t lead to better handling of cases and may even have a perverse effect,” she said. “When we process cases of sexual violence too quickly, there is a risk that they will be dismissed without further action, which is quicker than conducting a lengthy investigation.”
Marquet also noted that during the five weeks it will take to conduct the review, new complaints will also be filed with prosecutors, many of which may be even more urgent than the outstanding cases being studied.
“This review also only concerns the 70,000 cases registered with the courts, but we do not know how many complaints are pending at police stations that the public prosecutor’s offices are not yet aware of,” she said.
Lawyers have also voiced their concern about the feasibility of the plan, with opinions ranging from cautiously optimistic to outright sceptical.
Jérome Navy, a Paris-based lawyer specialising in criminal, business and intellectual property law, described the review as “ambitious but achievable”, stressing that it required “additional human and financial resources” and that prioritising cases involving minors could “come at the expense of other types of cases.”
“This review should not significantly affect the number of trials or convictions,” he said. “Investigating judges and trial courts will continue to be overwhelmed, unless there is a major reform of criminal procedure and/or a substantial increase in the justice system’s budget.”
Criminal lawyer Gwendoline Tenier said she was “really worried” that the review would be rushed through and that cases which would normally deserve careful consideration would be overlooked, in a desire to get through the backlog as quickly as possible.
“We are dealing with extremely serious situations where minors have been or are due to be interviewed, and where decisions must be made regarding the need to commission both psychological and forensic assessments,” she said.
Tenier added that she agreed a review of how child abuse cases are handled is necessary, but that both judges and lawyers have been calling for some kind of action for years.
“Several politicians have suggested setting up a dedicated public prosecutor’s office, as was the case in Spain,” she said, referring to Spain’s specialised juvenile prosecutor units and domestic violence frameworks that centralise child protection.
“Given the societal challenges faced by the country and the fact that we too are facing domestic violence, this is not without merit,” Tenier added. “But this is different to resolving the situation in 70,000 cases in six weeks.”
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