Abstract
Unlock the truth about the statute of limitations for minor rape cases. Discover how legal amendments and interruptive acts impact the prescription period for public action, as seen in the case of Cécile Onxa, who was raped by her mother's concubine between 1990 and 1991. Understand the complexities of French law, including the non-retroactivity principle and the effects of the Covid-19 epidemic on prescription periods. Learn how the Court of Cassation's decisions and legislative changes influence the outcome of such cases, potentially extending or suspending the prescription deadline. Explore the intricacies of the sliding prescription principle introduced in 2021 and its implications for victims seeking justice.
Extract
[...] Thus, the ten-year period will only begin on the day the victim turns eighteen, i.e May 1995. Thus, in principle, the public action for these facts should be prescribed on 10 May 2005. However, the aforementioned article is amended on 10 March 2004, extending the limitation period to twenty years from the majority of the victim in the event of rape on a minor. Of course, in principle, under the principle of non-retroactivity of the more severe criminal law, this provision should not be applicable in this case, since the limitation period is extended. [...]
[...] Thus, the prescription period is interrupted until the end of the procedure. This one closes on 5 August 2008. The fact of interrupting the prescription period means that on the day of its resumption, the period is reset. Thus, since in the case of rape on a minor, the prescription period was always twenty years in 2008, it will prescribe on 5 August 2028, if there is no interruptive or suspensive act. However, for the studied facts, the prescription period is again extended on 1 On 1 March 2017. [...]
[...] Therefore, according to the decision of the Criminal Chamber of 7 June days must be added to all non-prescribed actions by 25 March 2020. As previously seen, the victim's action in this case will be prescribed in 2038, so it is necessary to add the 151 days to her, due to its suspension during this period. At the end of a suspension, the deadline resumes where it had stopped, and not from the beginning as for an interruption. Thus, the victim's action will be prescribed on 3 January 2039. [...]
[...] As she knows that you are studying law, she would like you to clarify her situation : When she was only eight years old, Cécile Onxa lost her father. In 1990, her mother entered into a concubinage with a man, Yves Remord, who regularly committed rape on the little girl. She was only 13 years old at the time. This continued until the couple separated in June 1991 due to the man's alcoholism. After the separation, the little girl retreated into silence while clinging to her lifelong dream: becoming a florist. [...]
[...] In June 2019, during the Covid-19 epidemic period, the victim wished to join the civil party to set in motion the public action against her aggressor. II. The legal issue The problem is as follows: when the prescription period of the public action for a minor rape, whose last act was committed in June 1991, has expired? III. The applicable texts Article 7 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in its version in force from July to March provided that in the case of rape of a minor by a person in authority, the prescription period is 10 years and runs from the victim's majority. [...]
