After a third night of violence in response to Nahel’s death, 875 people were arrested in France overnight from Thursday to Friday. A third are minors.
“I appeal to the responsibility of fathers and mothers of families. The Republic does not have to replace them”, these are the words of the President of the Republic after the meeting of the crisis unit installed at the Elysée. This follows three days of urban violence that the Head of State describes as“unacceptable, unjustifiable”. 875 people were arrested in France, overnight from Thursday to Friday, according to a final assessment communicated by the Ministry of the Interior. Some 249 police and gendarmes were slightly injured. A third of the individuals implicated are minors, the others are young adults. Territorial intelligence estimates the median age at 17. This raises the question of the legal framework around the arrest of minors, and their custody.
Police custody possible from 13 years old
The Juvenile Justice Code explains that from the age of 10, a child may, if he or she is considered endowed with discernment, not kept in custody, but “detained”, for a period of 12 to 24 hours if necessary, and with the consent of a magistrate.
From the age of 13 and up to 15, it is possible to be placed in custody for 24 hours. The extension up to 48 hours is only possible if the teenager is suspected of having committed or wanted to commit an offense or a crime punishable by at least five years in prison.
Finally, from the age of 16, the conditions of police custody are substantially the same as for adults, except for the obligation, as for the youngest, for the judicial police officer to warn the legal guardians, usually the parents.
The responsibility of parents
When the person in custody is a minor, his hearings must imperatively be filmed. If there has been no registration, there cannot be a conviction pronounced. At the end of his custody, only the minor signs his report, because criminal responsibility remains an individual responsibility, regardless of his age. The minor can then be presented to a judge for an indictment, or summoned later to be tried in the end before a juvenile court.
Parents, for their part, cannot be prosecuted for acts committed by their children. But according to the Civil Code, “the father and the mother, insofar as they exercise parental authority, are jointly and severally liable for the damage caused by their minor children living with them”they may therefore be ordered to pay compensation or fines.
Finally, the Penal Code provides that the fact for a father or a mother to evade his legal obligations to the point of compromising the health, safety, morals or education of his minor child is punishable by two years in prison and 30,000 euro fine.