The health of Alain Delon, 88, is now in the hands of justice. Weakened, the cinema legend was placed under judicial protection for his medical follow-up. What is it about ? 20 minutes explains everything to you.
According to the site service-public.fr, it is a “short-term protection measure” which allows “an adult to be represented to carry out certain acts of everyday life”. “She can avoid pronouncing guardianship or curatorship, which are more restrictive,” specifies the French administration website. It concerns in particular adults “encountering physical or psychological difficulties due to an illness” or “suffering from an infirmity or weakening due to age”.
Special representative
There are two types of safeguarding measures: medical and judicial. The first is put in place “following a declaration made by a doctor to the public prosecutor”. The second can be requested from the protection dispute judge by the person concerned themselves, by the person who shares their life, by a parent, by the public prosecutor or by a doctor. Before making his decision, the magistrate must hear the person to be protected, who may be accompanied by a lawyer.
The judge can designate a special mandatary to carry out certain acts in place of the protected person: use of a bank investment or the sale of a house. In the case of Alain Delon, the judge appointed a legal representative who must assist the actor “with his medical monitoring and with the choice of practitioners ensuring his monitoring”.
The magistrate chooses him as a priority from among the relatives of the person who is the subject of this measure. If this is impossible, he can appoint a professional registered on a departmental list kept by the prefect. This is what was decided for the French star. Since the beginning of January, his three children have been waging a fratricidal war, through the media and the justice system, each swearing to want to protect their father whose health has been declining since a stroke in 2019.
2 years maximum
“The person under the protection of justice retains the right to perform all acts of civil life, except those entrusted to the special representative if he has been appointed”, underlines the service-public.fr site. However, this person “cannot divorce by mutual or agreed consent.” The designated agent can contest “certain acts contrary to the interests of the adult, which he or she may have carried out during the protection of justice”. The safeguard of justice cannot exceed 1 year. It is renewable once by the protection litigation judge. The total duration is 2 years maximum.