“Does something different have to happen to me for my file to finally be found? “. On June 7, when Emilie * sent these words by e-mail to the office in charge of her case at the Créteil court, this mother was “at the end of the line”. Exhausted by months of waiting and unanswered reminders, the Francilienne has lost hope of one day seeing her story examined by a judge.
Her legal journey had however proceeded without difficulty since her complaint was filed in August 2020. Harassed by her ex-companion, spied on, threatened with death and insulted, Emilie says she was “very well received” by the police officer responsible for collecting his testimony that summer. “An investigation was carried out and my former spouse was placed in police custody for forty-eight hours,” she confides to 20 minutes. Already targeted by a reminder to the law after a first complaint filed two years earlier by Emilie, the man admitted the facts of which he was accused during his hearing.
A “grain of sand” which “seized up the machine”
Examined by a doctor from the Créteil Medico-Legal Unit (UMJ), Emilie received 7 days of ITT. The report written by the practitioner mentions a “significant muscular contracture of the back muscles”, a “significant psychological impact” and “sleep and appetite disorders”. A month after his complaint, it is relief: he is informed that his ex-companion will be judged in the form of a CRPC. Created in 2004 to unclog the courts, this appearance on prior admission of guilt makes it possible to judge offenses more quickly when the author acknowledges the alleged facts.
On March 1, 2021, the hearing is therefore held in Créteil. Problem: Emilie’s former boyfriend retracts, denies the charges against him and refuses to appear. “It was absolutely his right. But it was the grain of sand that came to seize up the judicial machine, ”analyzes Eric Morain, Emilie’s lawyer.
In some courts, to avoid postponing the procedure indefinitely, a classic hearing is automatically set a few hours after the CRPC to compensate for a possible failure of this appearance. But “in Créteil, this device does not exist”, regrets a judicial source. As a result, Emilie’s file is sent back to the prosecution, responsible for deciding what action to take. “Files that have failed in the CRPC may be the subject of a penal order or a classification without further action depending on the elements available to us. But in principle, and in particular for attacks on persons and in matters of domestic violence, we prefer a summons to court, ”clarifies to 20 minutes the parquet floor of Créteil.
In search of the lost file
The young woman takes her pain patiently. But months pass and the response from the prosecution is still awaited. “I was anxious, I felt in danger. I had the feeling that justice left the possibility for my ex-spouse to start over if he wanted to, ”she continues. Almost a year after the failure of the CRPC, Eric Morain was finally informed by the prosecution that the “very large number” of files similar to that of his client “saturate” the office in charge of the CRPC, “currently outstanding “.
” Lack of sufficient means and personnel, the courts operate in a flow management logic. It’s not acceptable. Behind these stocks, we have litigants who do not understand what is happening. Their expectations are huge because for them, this case is the business of their lives, and they are holding us to account,” castigates the criminal lawyer. Over the months, Emilie’s confidence wanes. “I began to question Me Morain’s work. I ended up calling the court and they explained to me that there was no computer trace of my file”.
“She opened the door to a room full to bursting, there were files from floor to ceiling and she said to me: ‘Your complaint is in there'”
Determined, the young woman decides to go there with one objective: to find her file. On April 4, 2022, here she is entering the huge concrete hall of the Créteil court. For hours, she pushes doors, challenges magistrates and tries to glean information. Referred to the CRPC office, Emilie manages to meet the clerk who was present at the hearing when her ex-husband decided to withdraw. “She asked me when my file was opened, I answered 2020. Then she opened the door to a packed room. There were files from floor to ceiling and she said to me: “Your complaint is in there, and there is a good chance that it will be dismissed!” It demolished me, I I cracked up,” says Emilie under her breath.
Hearing set in 48 hours
Moved by the young woman, the clerk then undertakes to relaunch the search and to transfer her file directly to the prosecutor. Spring passes, summer arrives. Fifteen months after the very first hearing, Eric Morain and his client have had no news from the court. However, the prosecution specifies that the deadlines for setting a new hearing date amount on average to “7 or 8 months”. On June 7, Emilie sends her email of despair, in vain.
Asked about this case in mid-July by 20 minutes, the Créteil public prosecutor’s office will take less than 48 hours to respond to our requests. “There was a difficulty, a bug during the transmission of this file”, recognized the judicial authority. “But this difficulty has been resolved, the case has returned to the hands of a family affairs magistrate, and a hearing date has been set for next November,” said the prosecution. Relieved for his client, Eric Morain however deplores the fact “that it takes the intervention of a media to unblock an unacceptable situation. But what happens to litigants who do not have the means to solicit the press? “. Exhausted, Emilie prefers to remain on her guard: “I am waiting to have the notice to the victim now and confirmation of the date of the trial”.
In Créteil as elsewhere, the lack of human and financial resources is regularly denounced by legal professionals. Last May in Le Figaro, the president of the court described a difficult situation, with each year a third of the departure of magistrates within the prosecution, and a shortage of 40% of the number of clerks. Aware of the “crisis of confidence” that these shortcomings generate within the population, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borneannounced on July 6 that it wanted the recruitment of “8,500 judges and additional justice personnel” over the next five years.
* The name has been changed