French Senate definitively adopts Darmanin criminal justice bill, guilty plea measure removed

The Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, during the solemn vote on the bill on criminal justice and respect for victims, at the National Assembly, in Paris, on July 7, 2026. JULIEN MUGUET FOR "LE MONDE"

Gérald Darmanin has managed to salvage a watered-down version of his text, the outcome of which was still uncertain a few weeks ago. Parliament definitively adopted, on Thursday, July 9, after a final vote in the Senate, the bill on criminal justice championed by the Keeper of the Seals, significantly reduced after the withdrawal of its highly criticized guilty plea measure.

After the National Assembly on Wednesday, senators supported this text by 232 votes to 99, whose stated objective is to reduce court backlogs. Faced with opposition from the left and a revolt from lawyers, the government abandoned several proposals, resulting in a streamlined version focused on a few measures concerning pretrial detention, genetic genealogy, or the jurisdiction of departmental criminal courts.

The Keeper of the Seals, who did not attend the upper house on Thursday to witness the final adoption of his project, has assured in recent days that this reform would constitute "a great step forward for faster and safer justice," in the face of ever-increasing delays. Nevertheless, parliamentarians overwhelmingly contradicted this analysis, noting the progressive thinning of the project over the months.

Read also | Why Gérald Darmanin is backing down on the "criminal guilty plea" reform

It was a "long via crucis" for the minister, criticized socialist (Paris) Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie. "We sometimes felt we were defending the text more than the government itself," ironically remarked senator (Manche, Les Républicains) David Margueritte, regretting "a certain number of retreats" or even "renunciations."

Scattered Set of Measures on Criminal Procedure

The flagship measure of the text was ultimately withdrawn due to a lack of a majority in Parliament. It established a "guilty plea" procedure in criminal matters with a reduced potential sentence and the rapid holding of a shorter hearing than a trial by assize court, in exchange for the accused's confession.

So what remains in the final text? A scattered set of measures on criminal procedure, investigative means, or the organization of departmental criminal courts, created in 2019 and which try crimes punishable by fifteen to twenty years in prison. The government has promised to create about sixty of them. Their composition and jurisdiction are reformed by the text: they will be able, for example, to try repeat offenders, a measure that was nevertheless removed at first reading in the National Assembly.

The text also includes:

• Genetic genealogy: A component for exploiting genetic genealogy to solve certain cases, particularly cold cases. It provides for authorizing the consultation of databases from private companies, generally American, offering recreational genetic tests that are banned in France.
• Pretrial detention: An emergency mechanism allowing the extension of certain pretrial detentions, even though the constitutionality of the measure is questioned. Several parliamentarians have moreover promised to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council.
• Minors: An emergency measure added to the project in extremis to fill a legislative gap regarding the pretrial detention of minors aged at least 16 accused of crimes.

Read also | With the support of the RN, Gérald Darmanin gets his bill on criminal justice adopted, stripped of several measures