Pierre Palmade refuses to appear for “manslaughter”. But why is the president of the court asking him this question?
During the first day of the hearing in the trial of Pierre Palmade, the victims’ lawyer asked the president to add an offense, that of involuntary manslaughter of the stillborn baby. It makes sense that the victims’ lawyer would ask this. The law, he says, protects animals better than unborn children. A strong sentence from the family lawyer. But the public prosecutor’s lawyer, who represents the company, did not follow this request.
But why ask him the question? It’s a question of form. French law is very clear, it considers that there is no homicide if the child born is not alive. Here, the little girl was viable, at 27 weeks pregnant. Her death was indeed caused by the accident, experts say, but between the time she was born and the time she died, there was no voluntary respiratory movement, so this child was not not alive and the law is the same for everyone, until there is an evolution of this law.
And in Belgium?
In Belgium, the law is the same as in France, but it will not last. A new penal code approved by parliamentarians will soon come into force, and this new penal code will introduce a new concept, that of pregnancy loss. This can happen during an accident, for example, or, more often, because of a blow from a violent partner, for example.
This loss of pregnancy will be considered an aggravating circumstance. This notion should appear in the new penal code in a few months.
Pierre Palmade palmade justice
Belgium
