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Emmanuel Macron launched the States General of Justice on Monday, October 18. But magistrates and lawyers are calling for more resources immediately. A criminal case is not dealt with in our country for three years.
Justice French isit too slow? At the court of Créteil (Val de Marne), there is no lack of examples of judicial delays. Woman, victim of domestic violence, waited almost two years for her case that is judged. Hearings are overcrowded and some cases are rushed through. “Correctional hearings sometimes end after midnight in Créteil, with magistrates who are exhausted and who do not listen to anything, litigants who no longer want to explain and with decisions that suddenly do not make sense.“, explains Me Mathilde Guery, lawyer at the Paris bar.
In France, the average processing time for a criminal case is around 41.5 months, which equates to almost three and a half years. In 2020, the state spent 69.50 euros per year and per capita, which is less than Spain and Germany. The budget granted to the justice system will be increased by 660 million euros in 2022 while the States General of Justice were launched on Monday, October 18. Almost half of this sum will go to the prison administration. “This budget is not at all devoted to increasing the workforce“, deplores Sarah Massoud, national secretary of the Syndicat de la magistrature.