The affair had aroused great emotion. Three years after the murder of Sarah Halimi, in her sixties Jewish by a heavy cannabis user in the throes of a “delirious puff” according to psychiatric experts, Parliament definitively adopted Thursday, by a final vote of the Senate, the delicate reform of the regime of ‘criminal irresponsibility. This is an order made last April by Emmanuel Macron. “We do not judge and we will not judge the fools,” however hammered the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti. But two exceptions are provided for by the text, requiring strict conditions that are no doubt difficult to meet.
“No show justice”
The first has no link with the Halimi affair: there will no longer be any irresponsibility if the temporary abolition of discernment results from the close and voluntary consumption of psychotropic drugs for the very purpose of committing an offense. This exception is intended to apply, for example, to terrorists who take drugs just before they take action.
As the senators wished, on cases where there is hesitation between abolition or alteration of discernment, due to contradictory psychiatric expertises, then the competent court will rule behind closed doors on the responsibility or irresponsibility, before the judgment of the judge. ‘case if applicable. There will be “no show justice”, noted Senate rapporteur Loïc Hervé (Centrist Union), praising a “balanced position”.
Directly linked to the Halimi affair, it will also be possible to suppress the consumption of psychoactive products, such as drugs or alcohol, if the person knew that this could lead to violence or homicide, of which he or she was responsible. been declared irresponsible. Thus “it is not a question of repressing the act committed but the voluntary absorption of psychotropic drugs”, summarizes the Keeper of the Seals and former lawyer.
“Victims’ rights”
“The rights of victims will be respected, that’s what they expected,” said Senator (UC) Nathalie Goulet, who had the Senate adopted in May its own bill on the subject. Deputies and senators reached a compromise on the government project, which was far from being won as the desired evolutions on irresponsibility differed – the Senate dominated by the right wanted the trial court to rule more generally on the issues of irresponsibility. case.
During the final vote Monday at the Palais-Bourbon, the rapporteur Naïma Moutchou (LREM) welcomed this final “agreement” on “a subject which deeply moved the Nation”. In addition to the majority, the right supports the bill which “provides a penal response”. “Civil parties and our fellow citizens find it difficult to understand that there is no trial and that everything comes to an abrupt end once irresponsibility has been declared”, underlines UDI deputy Pascal Brindeau.
Remedies considered on the left
Conversely, the left is against and will file appeals before the Constitutional Council. The deputy Ugo Bernalicis (LFI) criticizes a “law of circumstance” which could produce “a violation of the principle of criminal irresponsibility”. “The text does not provide guarantees as regards the permanence of the care required by the mental state of the person declared irresponsible”, notes Lamia El Aaraje (PS). In a last stand, rebellious deputies defended in vain Monday a motion to reject a “catch-all” bill with also “security” aims.
Because the government has returned to the charge through this text to authorize video recordings in police custody premises, as well as drones and cameras on board police vehicles, which had been censored in May by the Constitutional Council. . The new version “offers the necessary guarantees”, assures Mr. Dupond-Moretti.
The Communists point to a “stubbornness of the government in the installation of more and more numerous and more and more intrusive surveillance devices”. The environmental senator Guy Benarroche pointed out Thursday of “liberticidal provisions” and “electoralists”. The bill also aims to crack down on violence against the police and their families, to strengthen the fight against urban rodeos or refusals to comply, as well as the control of bearers. weapons.