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Published on June 29, 2026 at 5:53 p.m.
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While until 2019, rapes were judged before assize courts, criminal courts now judge rapes in more than 85% of cases (Illustrative photo).
Semen Salivanchuk / Adobe Stock
Gérald Darmanin’s bill, which arrives on Tuesday June 30 in the National Assembly, plans to strengthen the criminal courts, made up of magistrates, who judge the vast majority of rapes in France. But the “comprehensive” bill on sexual violence, announced for September in the Assembly, recommends having these crimes judged by assize courts with popular juries.
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Who should judge rape cases in France? Should this remain the prerogative of professional magistrates or should popular jurors be allowed to sit alongside them again? This debate is back in the news today with a parliamentary debate which will certainly give rise to delicate arbitration on the part of Matignon. This Tuesday, June 30, Gérald Darmanin’s bill, passed in April in the Senate, arrives at the National Assembly. This text from the Minister of Justice proposes to give a greater place to the departmental criminal courts, these jurisdictions made up of professional magistrates who judge the vast majority of rapes in France.
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