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Video length: 3 min
Violence by minors: how are they judged?
While the government wants to restore authority in the face of violence by minors, how are they currently judged?
(France 2)
While the government wants to restore authority in the face of violence by minors, how are they currently judged?
Restoring authority in the face of minor violence: the government’s slogan concerns justice in particular. How are minors judged today? Adolescents are responsible for their actions from the age of 13, but up to the age of 18, they are not treated like adults. Handled by specialized courts (judges, children’s courts), they come under a specific penal code, the Code of Criminal Justice for Minors, and a system which tends to “educational and moral recovery, as well as the prevention of recidivism”.
Minors can be incarcerated
What penalties do minors incur? Priority is given to educational measures, with the assistance of social workers or placements in homes. But in the event of a serious act or repeat offense, minors can also receive penalties: community service, house arrest and even imprisonment. The length of the sentence is in principle halved due to the so-called “minority excuse”. But from the age of 16, this is not systematic.
How soon are minors sentenced? One in three times, in the most serious cases, they are immediately sanctioned. But most of the time, after an initial hearing, minors first have an educational probation before being punished. They are therefore judged after 8.3 months on average, again according to the Ministry of Justice.
