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PoliticsFrench National Assembly adopts Darmanin's criminal justice bill in first reading, without plea-bargaining mechanism
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On July 7, 2026, the French National Assembly adopted in first reading the criminal justice bill championed by Keeper of the Seals Gérald Darmanin, with 357 votes in favor and 177 against. The bill, aimed at unclogging courts, was passed without the controversial criminal plea-bargaining mechanism (PJCR), which Darmanin removed on June 10 due to lack of consensus and opposition from lawyers. The proposed procedure would have allowed a one-third sentence reduction in exchange for full admission of facts, with victim consent, targeting trial delays averaging six years for rapes and eight years for homicides. The bill now proceeds to a closed-door meeting between deputies and senators on Wednesday morning, with potential final approval in the Assembly on Wednesday evening and the Senate on Thursday. The removal of the plea-bargaining provision was influenced by the Lyhanna affair, which turned many magistrates against Darmanin.
Source report
The Keeper of the Seals, Gérald Darmanin, at the National Assembly, July 7, 2026. JULIEN MUGUET FOR "LE MONDE"
The National Assembly adopted on Tuesday, July 7, in first reading the criminal justice bill championed by the Keeper of the Seals, Gérald Darmanin, who ultimately abandoned including a highly criticized plea-bargaining mechanism for criminal matters.
The text, aimed at unclogging the courts, was adopted by 357 votes to 177. It must now be the subject of a closed-door meeting between deputies and senators, scheduled for Wednesday morning. If an agreement is reached, the bill will still need to be validated Wednesday evening in the Assembly, then definitively on Thursday in the Senate.
Removal of Criminal Plea Bargaining
On June 10, the Minister of Justice announced that he was removing criminal plea bargaining from his bill.
"In a spirit of responsibility and to respond to the urgency of improving our criminal justice, it seems necessary to me to propose to the national representation the withdrawal of this provision, for lack of consensus," he explained.
"This is not the time [to carry out this reform] in the current political context," Gérald Darmanin's entourage told Agence France-Presse, amid the turmoil since the Lyhanna affair, during which he turned many magistrates against him.
The Proposed Plea-Bargaining Mechanism
The proposed procedure for judgment of admitted crimes (PJCR) stipulated that, in exchange for a full admission of the facts by the accused, the prosecution could propose, with the victim's consent, a one-third reduction of the initially envisaged sentence.
The stated goal was to speed up case processing and combat court congestion, given that trial delays average:
- Six years for rapes
- Eight years for homicides
according to the chancellery.
Opposition from lawyers had already led the government to commit in mid-May to excluding rapes and all crimes punishable by the assize court from the scope.
Le Monde with AFP
Source
Politique : Toute l’actualité sur Le Monde.fr.Western
Part of this Story
French Parliament Adopts Watered-Down Criminal Justice Bill to Reduce Court Backlogs