Juvenile Justice in France. The Evolution of Sentencing for Children and Minor Delinquents

French jurisdictions dealing with children are somewhat different from those in other countries. There is one judge dealing exclusively with children in civil matters and with juvenile delinquents in criminal matters. The preference of French law is to seek educative solutions rather than to impose prison sentences or other repressive measures. This is not surprising in civil matters, but it may be so in criminal matters. This legal way of dealing with juvenile delinquents has been France's choice for 50 years. In order to reach this goal, special courts have been established outside the regular penal system and have more resources at their disposal to understand and intervene with juveniles. The will, clearly affirmed, of a preference given to educative measures rather than repressive and strictly penal ones, is in line with the historical evolution of the judicial consideration of juveniles. In the present article, the main principles of the French system will be described, together with an analysis of juvenile justice proceedings in a sample of French regions