The Attorney General at the Court of Cassation was the guest of “8:30 a.m. franceinfo”, Tuesday May 30, 2023.
François Molins, Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, was the guest of the 8:30 a.m. franceinfoTuesday May 30, 2023. Offense of road homicide, prison overcrowding, casserolades, judicial laxity, risk of attack in France… He answered questions from Marc Fauvelle and Salhia Brakhlia.
Road homicide: “When you change the law, you have to take the time to think”
François Molins denounces “the fact-diversification” criminal law, especially after the series of fatal accidents caused by drivers under the influence of narcotics. The Ministers of the Interior and of Justice are currently considering a “road homicide” so as not to consider these accidents merely as “manslaughter”. “Whether it’s called a road homicide or not, to my knowledge, there are always two categories: intentional homicides and manslaughters”explains the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation. “Do we have to go further? Maybe”he concedes. “But you still have to take the time to reflect.” The Attorney General insists: taking action on road traffic is “acting on alcohol, narcotics and speed”.
Prison overcrowding: building “will not be enough to solve the problem”
Eric Dupond-Moretti wants to build 15,000 additional places in French prisons to accommodate all prisoners with dignity, whose number today stands at 73,162 for 60,867 places. Prison overcrowding therefore broke the record by 120.2%. “We must build” new places in prison to fight against prison overcrowding, “but that will not be enough to solve the problem”, affirms the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation. This overpopulation is not “not normal” and that “prevents real reintegration actions”. You have to find a “other device”. Among the avenues put forward, François Molins indicates that“we must work more on the meaning of the sentence, the apprehension of recidivism, and densify the open environment”.
Ban on pans: “It’s not normal, the law was not made for that”
Certain provisions of the anti-terrorism law were used during the protest against the pension reform. François Molins denounces “abuse”. “The protective perimeter is not made to prevent people from demonstrating”he assures. “We must apply the law strictly, for what it was made for”advances François Molins after the prefectural decrees which took during the demonstrations against the reform of the pensions, some prohibiting in particular the casserolades.
Judicial laxity: “The sentences handed down have never been so important”
According to François Molins, the French are wrong to think that justice is lax. “In six or seven years, the average length of sentences handed down by correctional courts has increased by more than two months”, he notes. “The sentences handed down are not lax, they have never been so important in the history of justice. The problems we have is to bring them to execution”he hammers regretfully “the non-effectiveness of penalties”. “We always have a stock of unexecuted sentences which is around 95,000 to 100,000”, explains François Molins who highlights the complexity of the procedure and the lack of resources.
Risk of attack in France: “Daesh in the Middle East, it’s not over”
François Molins was Public Prosecutor of Paris from 2011 to 2018. Having national jurisdiction over terrorism cases, he was responsible for the major terrorist attacks carried out in France, in particular in 2012 by Mohammed Merah or in 2015 with Charlie Hebdo and November 13, then Nice in 2016. François Molins warns “an extremely anxiety-provoking feeling”. “The pictures are still there”admits the high magistrate, who admits having had recourse to a psychologist, “like his colleagues”. “There is always a place for emotion. The challenge is to know how to manage it”, he explains. “We wondered day and night if we would actually be able to be effective. to stop all this”remembers François Molins.
As for the risk of an attack currently in France, the high magistrate judges “that the risk has evolved”It is henceforth “different”. “There is jihadist terrorism, I think there are also risks of ultra terrorism, especially from the ultra-right”confides François Molins who does not rule out “the risk of dormant cells, with people from foreign countries who are not necessarily identified”. “ISIS in the Middle East is not over and in Africa the risk has metastasized”he notes cautiously.
Retirement of François Molins: “A complete and radical change”
“It’s a complete and radical change, which is not necessarily so easy to live with”, concedes the highest magistrate in France, who will retire at the end of June, after 46 years of exercise in justice. He will continue “to keep activities”. Replaced by Rémy Heitz at the end of June as Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, François Molins wishes “stay helpful” around the themes “transmit and share”. “I have acquired some experience, so I will try to enhance it, but always in this public service-service to others dimension”, he says. On the other hand, no question, says François Molins, of getting involved in politics. “Absolutely not”he concludes.
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