Overview
- The proposal would make legal counsel mandatory for all minors under assistance éducative, with lawyers independent of families and child-welfare services.
- The service would be free for children and funded through legal aid, with a cited fee of €576 per hearing.
- Roughly 380,000 young people could be covered, according to official data.
- The text was adopted in committee and is supported by Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, while RN and Les Républicains plan to abstain, citing judiciarisation risks and an expected annual cost above €200 million.
- The debate follows the circulation of a video showing a child’s head being shaved in a Paris placement home, now under judicial investigation, with the Defender of Rights seizing the case.