Only the judge can oppose it by justifying his decision. The deputies unanimously gave their approval this Wednesday in committee to a socialist bill providing for the “automatic” withdrawal of parental authority in the event of a conviction for incestuous aggression, a crime on the child or the other parent.
Approved unanimously in the law commission, this text is expected in the hemicycle on February 9, during the day reserved for the PS group in the Assembly, if the busy agenda allows it. With her bill, the socialist Isabelle Santiago wants to “reverse the logic”: “today the withdrawal of parental authority is possible but too little applied. With this text, it will be mandatory unless the judge decides otherwise in a reasoned way, ”she underlines.
Suspension before court decision
This discretion left to the judges was added collectively in committee to avoid any risk of unconstitutionality of automatic penalties. The bill also provides for the expansion of another mechanism which concerns persons prosecuted for the same acts, but not yet convicted. The exercise of parental authority, visiting rights and accommodation, will be suspended until the judge’s decision.
This mechanism currently concerns only people prosecuted for crimes involving the other parent. Isabelle Santiago, who worked in conjunction with the Chancellery, explained that her “only compass is the best interests of the child”. She described “the deep movements” that are going through society after MeToo or Camille Kouchner’s book “La familia grande”, published in January 2021, at the origin of the Olivier Duhamel affair and a release of speech on incest.
160,000 child victims of sexual violence every year
His text received unanimous support. In France, nearly 400,000 children live in families where domestic violence takes place, according to a report by the High Commissioner for Gender Equality in June 2021. And “160,000 children suffer sexual violence each year in France”, a recalled the LR Aurélien Pradié, taking up figures from the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children (Ciivise).
At the end of the morning, the law commission adopted another bill from the socialist Cécile Untermaier to promote the issuance of protection orders and extend the maximum duration from six to twelve months. This system allows the family court judge to urgently protect victims of domestic or intra-family violence. This text is also on the menu in the hemicycle on February 9, if the deputies have time to complete its examination before midnight, the time at which the debates end.