France rushes in custody reforms

European court of human rights has repeatedly challenged France for locking up suspects without charge and denying access to lawyers France was forced to rush in urgent reforms to its treatment of people in police custody this weekend, a move that follows years of international condemnation that it was trampling the most basic human rights. France’s claim to be “the country of human rights” has been repeatedly challenged by the European court of human rights (ECHR), which warned suspects were being locked up without charge and with no access to lawyers. The court said France had an unjust police custody system overseen by state prosecutors who were not independent but in thrall to the government. France was also told it was breaking international law by not telling suspects they had a right to remain silent. Under pressure from the ECHR, the French parliament voted in January for a reform allowing suspects to have a lawyer present during questioning and to be granted the right to remain silent. The change was due to come into force in June, but France’s constitutional council ruled this weekend it must be changed immediately, sparking panic as lawyers descended on police stations and police officers warned of absolute chaos. The French system of holding a suspect for up to 96 hours without charge, denying them lawyers or any chance to organise a defence or prepare for questioning was found to contravene the French constitution itself. The only access to a lawyer was for a 30-minute visit to check the suspect was well, but not for discussing defence. The notoriously tough system, which allowed suspects as young as 13 to be held, became a plank of president Nicolas Sarkozy’s tough-on-crime approach and target-based police culture. Even Sarkozy’s prime minister, Francois Fillon, admitted it was shocking that 800,000 people a year were held in police custody, two thirds more than in 2002. There was a scandal last year over the abuse by police of their powers when four 14-year-olds were detained in police custody over a fight outside a school. One was taken from her home in her nightclothes and locked in a cell for 10 hours. Amnesty International has highlighted cases of deaths in police custody and warned against police brutality. The government wants to reduce the number of people in custody to 500,000 a year. One lawyer called to one of the first cases after the reform was put into action said it was a revolutionary moment, as important “as the storming of the Bastille”. Police complained of a new burden to their workload and one police union criticised the move to allow lawyers to attend the questioning of suspects, accusing some of them of thinking they were appearing in American TV series. France Europe European court of human rights Human rights Nicolas Sarkozy Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 18, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.