Criminal Law: Sentencing and Rehabilitation

Extract

[...] > In the same vein, the law on trust in the judicial institution provides that in the event of a conviction to a prison sentence the court of execution of sentences may, on the request of the public prosecutor, order as a measure of security and solely for the purpose of preventing a recidivism whose risk appears to be proven that the convicted person will be placed under judicial supervision for a duration that cannot exceed that corresponding to the sentences from which it has benefited and which have not been the subject of a decision to withdraw. [...]

[...] > In the end, Article 123-1 of the juvenile justice code imposes a special obligation of motivation for all prison sentences with or without suspension. These judges can take into account circumstances such as the age of the offender, or his recidivist status (recidivism leads to or aggravates the sentence for certain crimes as well as for certain misdemeanors) > Regarding the reiteration of the offense, this implies that a person has already been definitively convicted of a crime or a misdemeanor and commits a new offense that does not meet the conditions of legal recidivism. [...]

[...] = Principle of individualization of the penalty > Thus, the provisions of Article 132-19 of the Penal Code prohibit the judge from imposing a correctional imprisonment penalty of less than one month This prohibition applies not only to fully firm penalties but also to the firm part of a penalty partially suspended If such a penalty is pronounced, it would be illegal > In addition, when the jurisdiction of the judgments pronounces a penalty equal to or less than 6 months of imprisonment, it must (unless the person is unable to do so) order that the penalty be executed in its entirety under the regime of home detention. [...]

[...] > To address this and in the context of establishing the credibility of the sentence, the legislator has provided for execution and reduction penalties Each convicted person can be admitted The judge of the application of penalties can only grant it in case of good behavior > The simple suspension also constitutes a dispensation of execution It allows the effects of the sentence pronounced to be suspended for 5 years for crimes and misdemeanors and 2 years for 5th class contraventions. [...]

[...] Criminal Sanction > Criminal sanctions can affect a person's life, liberty, rights, property, and sometimes their honour > The penalty serves a function of retribution (idea of vengeance, one pays for what one has done) = Eye for eye, tooth for tooth Influenced largely by the idea of social revenge It is also a matter of inflicting a harm The same harm caused by the offense > To this concept of sin and expiation, other priorities have gradually been substituted, including those of the social utility of penal law. [...]