The questions abound. Fingers point to the sky with lightning speed. A real festival of liveliness betraying the interest of the students from four CM1, CM2 classes from Poitiers and Buxerolles who came to participate, this Thursday, May 2, in an exceptional operation.
A beautiful opening on justice and its functioning at the very heart of the judicial reactor with real judges, real lawyers and real police officers facing children. And questions galore with sometimes very relevant naivety.
“Each year, over a school year, the court welcomes around sixty classes, these are middle and high school students who attend a correctional hearing,” explains Jossua Abderrahim-Goulon.
At the court, Jossua Abderrahim-Goulon welcomes the classes coming to see justice work.
© (Photo NR-CP, Emmanuel Coupaye)
Jurist coordinating the departmental center for access to law in Vienna, he acts as the interface between the court and the outside world to break down clichés and preconceptions about the functioning of justice.
“We have two classes of middle school students from Neuville today but also four classes for which we have organized, for the first time, workshops with external speakers”details the organizer of this day which remains exceptional even if it could usefully be developed (1).
“The children’s judge is there to protect but also to condemn”
For two hours, the students move from one courtroom to another for four twenty-five minute workshops in order to keep the audience’s attention.
“So, can you tell me from what age one can be punished before the judge? “, asks chief gendarme Anaïs Bonaventure at the workshop ” school harassment “. All ages go there. “It’s from ten years old. If you have harassed a comrade, you can already be punished by the courts. »
A finger rises: “And why aren’t we punished the same if we commit murder as if we harass someone and they commit suicide! »
“It’s the law that decided it like that!” »
A questionnaire helps fuel the discussion on cyberharassment.
© (Photo NR-CP, Emmanuel Coupaye)
The law, the children’s judge comes to explain it, code in hand. And, to make it clear, Philippe Picard invites one of the students to read article 375 of the Civil Code. The one who marks out his area of action. When the health, safety or morals of a minor is in danger.
“The children’s judge is there to protect the children. But also to condemn them if they commit offenses,” he explains, surrounded by two lawyers from the Avoc’enfants association, Sarah Dusch and Amandine Frangeul.
Room 5 is a great success. Warrant Officer Maryline Porche from the Family Protection Center talks about her daily life as a police officer disrupted by inevitable emergencies. “And you often see bodies”the fascinated children ask several times.
How do handcuffs work? Demonstration!
© (Photo NR-CP, Emmanuel Coupaye)
Room 6, we sit down and wonder about boy-girl equality. There is a lot of talk about football in schoolyards, the roles assigned to each person and above all the way to break away from stereotypes. Small seeds sown in unsuspecting minds, even if on a daily basis, it’s another matter.
” It was great ! »
” It was great “, the children repeat over and over again as they come out of the courtrooms. A teacher confirms. “I also learned things about how it works, confides Marion Charpentier, teacher in Buxerolles. It was important to see that, to discuss directly with judges, lawyers or police officers. They better understood each person’s role. They thought it was the gendarme who put him in prison…”
(1) A new agreement will be signed between justice and National Education on the organization of these visits.
