He promises a “real software change” for civil justice, and an unprecedented overhaul of the Penal Code. The Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti unveiled Thursday January 5 a salvo of measures to remedy the “slowness” and the “complexity” of justice. The sixty announcements aim to meet the “expectations” formulated during the eight months of consultations of the Estates General of Justice, launched at the end of 2021.
- Halve the processing time of civil proceedings
More concretely, it begins by “halving” civil processing times: procedures represent 60% of judicial activity (divorce, employee-employer conflict, etc.) and last on average over two years. The minister wants in particular to introduce two mechanisms which, according to him, will make it possible to develop “a culture of amicability” and give the judge a “role of conciliator”.
- Budget and additional staff for the ministry
“We have done a lot, but there is still a lot to do,” said the minister to the press, promising to increase the envelope allocated to justice to “nearly 11 billion euros” in 2027, against 9.6 billion. currently. He also recalled the budget increases obtained since his arrival at the Chancellery in the summer of 2020 (+ 24%).
To frame this ambitious acceleration of the time of justice, a law of programming and orientation is planned. Firstly, it will make it possible to “sanctuarize” the promise made to hire 10,000 justice officials by 2027, including 1,500 magistrates, and to reduce the “chronic under-formatting of the workforce” (i.e. the drastic lack of personnel) noted in the final report of the Estates General.
- The great challenge of rewriting the Penal Code, which has become “unreadable”
Another challenge: the complete rewriting of criminal procedure. An “unprecedented challenge”, according to the Minister of Justice, who will have to respond to criticism from the States General. They denounce a procedural code that has become “excessively complex and unreadable”. According to Eric Dupond-Moretti, this overhaul will largely be done at “constant law” but will also result in “a simplification of the investigation frameworks”, in accordance with the wishes of the police. To carry out this project effectively, the government announced that it was going to legislate by ordinance. To relieve the penal system, he also announced that fixed fines will now be distributed electronically for all fines.
- Better support minors in a justice process
The Minister announced his desire to “develop the partnership” already experienced between the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Judicial Protection of Youth. The aim is for justice to better support young people concerned by juvenile justice “in a school or professional integration course” to get them out of delinquency. He also wants to continue to build closed educational centers, an “effective tool to prevent the recidivism of juvenile offenders” and “to put them back on the right track”, according to him.
- Pedestrian cameras for prison guards, no prison places
The “efforts” to be made “in prison matters” to reduce the prison population in particular, had also been widely underlined by the States General. The minister made no announcement on this subject, and preferred to highlight the construction of 15,000 prison places launched by Emmanuel Macron. He specified that this objective would be achieved by the end of 2027. But “to ease tensions within detention”, the Keeper of the Seals announced the generalization of the wearing of pedestrian cameras by prison guards. “This long-awaited equipment is likely to provide them with the security that is due to them,” he said.
- An application to facilitate access to justice services
For more “proximity” between litigants and justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti announced the launch of a mobile application from April 2023. It could allow the use of “simulators in matters of alimony or ‘legal aid’, to geolocate the nearest court, justice point, lawyer or notary like on a GPS. It will also allow all victims to make their claim for compensation before the criminal court, or to request legal aid.
