The government announced last week the creation of centers specializing in domestic violence in all the jurisdictions of France. Without even waiting for the decree, the Versailles Court of Appeal took the plunge.
Barely created, and already at work, even though the decree has not yet been published. Faced with feminicides which are not decreasing – 45 have been recorded since January 1, i.e. one every three days – and domestic violence which has increased by 21% in 2021, the government announced last week the creation of specialized centers in domestic violence in all jurisdictions in France.
>> Domestic violence: specialized centres, emergency protection orders… The government details a series of measures
If it already exists, this is not the case in the courts of appeal. That of Versailles therefore took the lead, without even waiting for the decree scheduled for September. “All procedures relating to domestic violence have already been identified”underlines thus, Tuesday, May 30, Jean François Beynel, the president of the court of appeal of Versailles, alongside the attorney general, Marc Cimamonti. “We are finalizing the last recruitments. We have recruited two assistant lawyers, who will work full time on domestic violence for the Court of Appeal. This is already a significant investment”specify the magistrates.
With them, in the specialized pole, there are already two magistrates. There will be others by the start of the school year in September. “These civil servants will remain in their usual activity: civil affairs, corrections, various fields… But some magistrates of these formations will also be members of a pole which is created to allow them to access training and above all that they can talk to each other”explains Marc Cimamonti.
A single file for civil and criminal matters
Communicate and have a single file which will bring together the civil, which decides for example on the custody of the children, and the criminal, which judges the violence. “These procedures have their own chronology and they arrive at the court at different times. You can see that if we do not create poles, we can end up with decisions that may be inconsistent with each other”defends the Attorney General.
And for this pole to work and be useful, the important thing is not to regulate. “Let us work!”insists Marc Cimamonti. “It’s true that what we are going to put in place will inspire ideas in the 35 other Courts of Appeal. But not everything can be exactly duplicated”he justifies.
Specialized courts as in Spain, “a false good idea”
This center specializing in domestic violence is in no way a specialized court. The Attorney General and the President of the Court of Appeal of Versailles are on this point in phase with the government, while several associations are in favor of it and the opposition has voted a text to this effect in the Assembly inspiration from Spain, which is a model.
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Present during the presentation of the cluster on Tuesday, the Minister for Equality between Women and Men, Isabelle Rome, believes that it would be “A false good idea.” “The specialized courts could not meet this requirement of proximity”according to the minister. “Even in Spain, there are very few of them. That’s why it’s this idea of specialized poles, precisely adjustable according to the size of the jurisdictions and according to the richness of the existing local fabric” which was accepted, she explains.
These specialized centers should benefit from part of the 1,500 positions that are to be created in the justice system within four years.