Overview
- An Inspection générale de la Justice report published last month cites an accumulation of failures, including incomplete personality reports, weak communication between juvenile judges and prosecutors, and decisions not properly followed.
- Stéphanie Bonhomme says the system did not protect her son, Élias, 14, who was fatally attacked with a machete on January 24 after football training in Paris.
- She reports being labeled “populist” by some magistrates and says the family was described as media tools, prompting her to seek validation from France Victime as well as meetings with François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.
- She rejects restorative justice with the presumed assailants, whom she describes as driven by cruelty, while calling for a candid dialogue with magistrates to understand prior decisions.
- Citing the inspection findings, she highlights extensive prior offenses by the two minors, unrespected no-contact orders, delayed hearings beyond statutory timelines, and proposes a law requiring magistrates to meet victims’ families when dysfunctions occur.