CRIMINAL LAW: BRINGING AN ABUSIVE CIVIL ACTION BEFORE THE POLICE COURT

Bringing a civil action

Facts :

According to thearticle 541 of the Code of Criminal ProcedureIf the police court considers that the offence does not constitute a criminal offence, or that the offence has not been established or is not attributable to the accused, it shall dismiss the prosecution.

Qpc (Constitution of civil party) :

According to a QPC transmitted to the Constitutional Council by the Cour de cassation, by excluding the possibility for a person directly summoned before the police court and dismissed from the prosecution to request, during the same proceedings, that the civil party be ordered to pay damages for abuse of civil party status, these provisions would make a difference between defendants who have been acquitted, depending on whether they were prosecuted in the police court or in the criminal court, since only defendants who have been acquitted can apply to the court for an award of damages for misuse of the civil party status.

On the other hand, they would introduce, before the police courtIn this case, there is a difference in treatment between the person being prosecuted and the plaintiff. Only the latter can request damages.

This would result in a misunderstanding of the principle of equality before the law.

The Conseil constitutionnel has declared these provisions unconstitutional in that they infringe the principle of equality before the law.

Cons. const. 26 May 2021, no. 2021-909 QPC

What you need to know:

Deducted fromArticle 6 of the Declaration of Human RightsThe principle of equality before the law, which guarantees equality before the law, and in particular before the criminal justice system, is a principle that has been unfairly neglected by criminal lawyers.

The Constitutional Council has developed a wealth of case law in support of this principle.

Two aspects of the theme stand out:

-the search for an objective reference point for deciding whether there has been a breach of equality. Legality, so important in criminal law and present in Article 6 of the Declaration, should serve as a compass;

-Then there is the question of the scope of the principle. Since a question of equality can easily become mixed up with principles from which it is difficult to distinguish clearly.