The Ministers of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, and of Justice, Didier Migaud, went to Marseille this Friday to present their plan to fight drug trafficking. If most of these measures will have to be voted on for their implementation, what are the avenues envisaged? 20 Minutes does the trick for you.
A “national coordination cell” and a “national prosecutor’s office”
Didier Migaud is calling for the creation of a “national coordination cell” which will be responsible for “taking stock of the threat, setting an operational strategy and implementing it”. To fight against what the Minister of Justice considers to be a “scourge”, he also wants the creation of a “National Prosecutor’s Office”.
Like the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, the latter could bring together all cases linked to drug trafficking in a single judicial forum. The judgment of “organized gang crimes” could also be entrusted to professional magistrates, whereas today they are in the hands of popular juries.
Return (in part) to the minority excuse
In the “most serious cases”, Didier Migaud wishes to partially reconsider the minority excuse for “those over 16”. This principle, dating from a 1945 ordinance, considers that a minor must be judged less harshly than an adult. The Minister of Justice also wants minors to be tried immediately in drug trafficking cases.
Create a status of “collaborator of Justice”
Didier Migaud wants to (better) reward repentants, these criminals who denounce and help justice. This system, with the creation of a status of “collaborator of Justice”, would allow denouncers to obtain a reduction in sentence or even an exemption, depending on the case.
Strengthen the “means of sanctioning”
The Minister of Justice announced his desire to increase by 40% the staff of the Paris prosecutor's office “working on the fight against organized crime at the national level”. According to Bruno Retailleau, “it will take years for the drug trafficking octopus to perish” but “when there is political will, we get there”.
