Breaking judicial isolation. The Senate examines in first reading on Tuesday a Law proposition aimed at allowing associations of elected officials to bring civil action to support a mayor who is the victim of an attack. A proposal from of the centrist group RDSE.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 600 mayors or deputies had been victims of physical attacks within the framework of their mandate, in 2021. A figure which has been constantly rising for a few years.
Isolated mayors
Faced with the resurgence of this violence, the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) had expressed the wish to be able to bring civil action during attacks on elected officials in France. Objective: to give more weight to the legal proceedings that are underway.
Because often, the mayor finds himself a little isolated. Especially in small towns without any legal service. This was the case, in particular, of Gérard Dué, mayor of Croisilles, a village of 2,000 inhabitants, in Pas-de-Calais.
In August 2020, the city councilor must intervene, in the middle of the night, for a recurring problem of nocturnal noise within a residence. “I was hit and I found myself on the ground,” recalls the 71-year-old mayor. Assessment: wrist dislocation and four days of ITT.
“Easier to plead”
He lodged a complaint, but the procedure was “administratively boring”, he admits. “The municipal council must deliberate and the lawyer must research the case law that exists for this type of case. It’s complicated, knowing that nothing will happen in the end. In his case, the defendant was finally fined 500 euros. He still lives in the town.
At the time, the elected official had received the moral support of his colleagues from Arrageois and the AMF. But he had to carry out the legal proceedings alone. “The Association of Mayors of France should be able to take on this kind of business,” said Gérard Dué. First, it would have more weight. Then, all the judgments would be listed in the same place and it would be easier for the lawyers to build a defense file and to plead. There, you are forced to fend for yourself. »