In search of measures to end the crisis caused by the death of young Nahel, shot dead by a police officer on June 27, the executive is multiplying initiatives. This Wednesday, July 5, it was the turn of the Keeper of the Seals, Éric Dupond-Moretti, to take charge of this thorny file. The Minister of Justice announced, during questions to the government of the Senate, to have “drafted a flyer” for “parents”, in order to remind them of their obligations, “in simple terms”, he specified.
This leaflet, consulted by AFP, takes up three “responsibilities” of parents, which the minister had detailed in a circular sent to the courts on Friday, calling for a “firm response” against the perpetrators – many of whom are minors – of urban violence after the death of young Nahel.
He mentions the civil liability of parents – “when your child steals, damages or destroys something […], it is you, parents, who will be condemned to pay the repairs”, it is written. Also discussed is their criminal liability “in the event of breach of parental duties”.
Finally, the flyer reminds that parents have the obligation to attend a court summons for their child, otherwise they risk being brought in by the police, or being fined.
This document will be distributed in all jurisdictions, to be given to parents whose children are brought to justice, as well as in police stations and gendarmeries, said the Chancellery.
The executive has insisted since Friday on the “responsibility of parents”, the Head of State Emmanuel Macron saying he wants to “better support, better empower and sometimes better punish” the parents of children who are perpetrators of violence.
The idea of sanctioning the supposed laxity of parents, defended by some politicians, is denounced as “simplistic” by elected officials, magistrates or family associations, who argue that society is less and less on the side of families, because of the saturation of the devices intended to help them: social workers, judges for children, or even maternal and child protection.