A compromise text after a race against time: the deputies unanimously adopted on Monday June 1 the bill aimed at better protecting children against violence at school and in extracurricular activities, drawn up in the wake of the commission of inquiry into the Bétharram scandal. Shortly before midnight, the scheduled time for the end of the debates, the deputies adopted this text at first reading by 187 votes, against 0.
The text plans in particular to strengthen the control of those likely to be in contact with children in schools and the extracurricular environment, and greater regulation of private establishments. It ultimately does not lift the secrecy of confession for ministers of religion.
As she did at the start of the examination, the Renaissance rapporteur of the text Violette Spillebout addressed, at the end of the vote, the victims who had come to watch the debates from the stands. “We are with you,” she told them, making a heart sign with both hands, before joining them outside the hemicycle with the co-author of her bill Paul Vannier.
The LFI deputy expressed his “emotion” after a year of work, and several of their proposals adopted, and called on the government to include this text on the Senate agenda, so that it can come into force from the next school year.
In 2025, it was together that the elected representative from the North and the LFI deputy led the commission of inquiry into violence in schools, which notably heard François Bayrou, then prime minister, on his supposed knowledge of the abuse inflicted on students at the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram establishment, near Pau. From these months of work and hearings, this bill was born, written by four hands, and co-signed by more than 150 deputies from different political groups.
Race against time
If the text was finally adopted unanimously, with the deputies from each group present voting in favor, its examination was stormy, marked by a “race against time”. The deputies only had until midnight to study the text, Gabriel Attal’s group having refused to support a bill proposed jointly with a rebellious deputy, which would have allowed it to be included in transpartisan time, with more time.
However, the latest articles, concerning private education, and especially the one providing for the obligation for priests to denounce acts of child abuse heard in the confessional, in violation of canon law, provoked an outcry from right-wing and far-right deputies who had tabled numerous amendments, compromising the final adoption of the text.
It was ultimately a compromise that was found in the hemicycle between the different groups, and in particular the removal of this last measure threatening the secrecy of the confession, with an abstention from most of the left-wing deputies, which made it possible to go to the vote on the entire text.
While denouncing “legislating in bad conditions” due to the decision of Gabriel Attal – thanked on the contrary by Violette Spillebout for having nevertheless allowed its examination by registering it in one of the reserved slots – Paul Vannier declared having accepted “on these conditions” to abstain to allow the application of useful provisions from the next school year.
The text provides a symbolic component, with the Nation’s condemnation of this violence, but also the recognition of a lack of State control which allowed it to continue. It provides for the creation of a day of tribute for the victims, on November 19.
Extracurricular in Paris
Initially, it provided for the creation of a national compensation fund for victims who could not go to court due to limitation periods in particular. But the government questioned the feasibility of such a fund, and MPs ultimately voted to submit a single report on the issue.
In terms of the prevention of this violence, the heart of the text, the deputies unanimously voted for measures strengthening the control of adults involved in schools and the extracurricular environment. With the scandal caused by the revelation of sexual violence in extracurriculars in Paris, this question has emerged in the public debate.
Thus, the deputies adopted several measures, one providing for the obligation, at the time of recruitment and then every three years, to present a “certificate of good repute” for people in contact with students, particularly in extracurricular activities. Another creates a “black list”, where people will be registered due to dangerous behavior preventing their re-employment in another establishment.
On private education, the deputies adopted two articles strengthening state control, but removed the system providing for the renewal of association contracts. This “red line”, as well as the secrecy of the confession kept intact, led to the “for” vote of the LR deputies, said Xavier Breton.
