“I will remember what happened to me all my life.” This is the phrase that comes up most often in the mouths of adolescents arrested since the start of the high school protest movement, according to Prisca Ancion. This lawyer assisted a "small dozen" of them in Seine-Saint-Denis and in Val-d'Oise, like the twenty or so of her colleagues, and especially sisters, of the Judicial Action Collective (CAJ) to which she belongs. Founded and run by activists from Permanent Revolution, an organization classified as far left, the CAJ operates in the Paris region, but also in Toulouse and Marseille. “We are called by families or designated by young people to the police station. For two weeks, not a day has passed without police custody or legal action,” the lawyer explains to franceinfo, while the mobilization of high school students continues.
Friday October 9, the Ministry of Justice counted 6,877 people placed in police custody, 86% of whom were minors. About one in three placed minors is subject to prosecution, according to the ministry. It is at the end of police custody that each public prosecutor decides whether or not to prosecute the person suspected of having committed an offense. If the offense is insufficiently characterized, no further action is taken. If the evidence is sufficient, for minors, special procedures apply. Either the prosecutor can ask that the adolescent be presented to him: this is called removal. Either he can be summoned later, via a Summons by Judicial Police Officer (COPJ).
Unlike adults, adolescents cannot be tried in immediate appearance and the penalties incurred are reduced by half, taking into account their young age. However, for Prisca Ancion, the legal process reserved for them leaves its mark. Like other lawyers, since the start of the arrests, she has denounced "particularly serious police violence, both at the time of their arrest and within the police station" and intends to file complaints for certain facts. “The high school students describe an insult, a slap, holding their head on the ground, strangulations,” says the criminal lawyer.
“Seeing the court filings full of young people is striking”
After spending the night in police custody, from 5 a.m., if they are referred, the minors are brought to a judicial court and placed in detention for several hours before appearing before a prosecutor. According to the report released on Friday, 1,239 minors have been referred since the start of the movement. “Seeing the filings of the courts of Pontoise and Bobigny full of young people aged 14/15 is striking. Removal is the most violent legal route for them, it’s impressive,” considers the lawyer. Even more so when it's the first time, which is the case with all his young clients.
Because dozens of adolescents with no criminal record are arrested, as in Bordeaux, where prosecutor Renaud Gaudeul lists among them, to franceinfo, "a majority of minors who were not known to the justice system". He sees this as the consequence of a group effect and “a ripple effect, who was able to play”. Another example: the Marseille prosecutor explained on Franceinfo on Wednesday that the 120 young people arrested in the city since the start of the mobilization did not have "the profile of thugs" but that they were "many high school students". Nicolas Bessone also specified that there had been "more than 80% of prosecutions initiated" out of these 120 arrests of minors. An orientation guided by the circular from the Minister of Justice of October 2, in which Gérald Darmanin considers that the “violence committed” calls for “a firm and rapid criminal response”.
“Support for the minor as close as possible to the commission of the facts is in fact essential to prevent any risk of recurrence,” writes the Minister of Justice in his circular, asking the services of the Judicial Protection of Youth (PJJ) to mobilize for this. Because it is the PJJ which is responsible for the organization of juvenile justice, in conjunction with the other departments of the ministry. Thus, before being presented to the prosecutor, any minor referred must see a lawyer, who will explain their rights, but also meet a PJJ educator in order to take stock of their situation.
The presence of parents required before the children's judge
At the end of a one-hour interview with the adolescent in question, the educator draws up a Collection of socio-educational information (RRSE), an essential document for the procedure, specifies the PJJ to franceinfo. Teams of educators are therefore on duty in the courts. With the high school movement, their number was increased, in order to cope with an “unusual flow”. “We adapt to all jurisdictions. Sometimes we have doubled the numbers, or even tripled,” we tell the PJJ, citing the example of Avignon, which experienced, at the start of the protest, 24 removals of minors in one day.
While waiting for the hearing before the children's court, often scheduled for three to four months later, on the basis of the prosecutor's requisitions and the educator's report, and depending on the young person's situation, the children's judge can order provisional judicial educational measures. Or go further, with security measures, such as judicial supervision or placement in pre-trial detention, which is rarer for minors. Since the start of the high school movement, only six cases have been recorded, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Justice.
Before making his decision, the children's judge receives, during a closed hearing, the young person concerned, with his lawyer and his parents. The latter have a full place in juvenile justice and are required to be present at the time of removal. In two weeks, lawyer Prisca Ancion says she has seen “parents from the working-class region of Ile-de-France, who work a lot, but all show support towards their children”. The Bordeaux prosecutor saw around forty parade through his office. In application of Gérald Darmanin's circular, the magistrate reminded them that they were "responsible for the damage caused by their minor children" and therefore required to "compensate in full" for this damage. In short, they will pay the bill. A reminder of the law which is not always very well received, reports Renaud Gaudeul. Shortly after, the parents also meet the PJJ educator, in order to put in place the follow-up decided by the judge while awaiting the hearing before the children's court.
“Many explain that they followed the movement”
In his circular, Gérald Darmanin also mentions penal composition, a procedure which allows the public prosecutor to propose one or more measures to a young perpetrator of low-serious acts. He must be at least 13 years old and admit the offense. Another legal route is also popular for minors: alternatives to prosecution. In its report on Friday, the Ministry of Justice identified 1,708 alternatives to prosecution for minors. In Toulon for example, this was the case on October 2 for 14 young people out of the 19 arrested during high school demonstrations. “For almost all of them, they were accused of having committed damage, in particular of having set fire to trash cans,” the prosecutor then specified.
In this context, the adolescent may be ordered to follow a citizenship course. “By the end of the year, several one-day sessions, in small groups, will focus on the rights and duties of the demonstrator, on group pressure and how to resist it, because many explain that they followed the movement,” explains the Bordeaux prosecutor. In fact, many high school students are accused of “participation in a gathering” and “grouping with the aim of committing violence”.
Repair actions in high schools
Among the alternatives to prosecution, there is also the immediate measure of criminal reparation, which involves the idea of reflecting on the crime committed and its consequences. In Toulon, it is entrusted to the Avenir association, established in the city for more than forty years and which can take care of 110 minors each year. Concretely, “young people can thus participate in waste collection operations or in solidarity actions with associations such as Secours populaire,” Sandrine Gonidec, director of Avenir, explains to franceinfo. Following the recent damage, she contacted the principal of the Bonaparte high school in Toulon, to think about repair actions in the schools. She is also thinking of calling on a project manager from the Milles camp memorial site, for a workshop entitled Accomplice or Resistance.
