On September 30, 2021, the Juvenile Criminal Justice Code enters into force. This Code incorporates the main principles of the 1945 Ordinance and promotes the effectiveness of care by recasting the criminal procedure. All the provisions specific to minors are therefore now grouped together in the same legal package.
Since the second half of XXe century, the provisions of juvenile criminal justice were divided into various texts:
the order of 2 February 1945;
several decrees;
and the code of procedure.
The 1945 Ordinance, the founding text of modern juvenile criminal justice in France, has been amended several times in order to respond to developments in juvenile delinquency. Other texts have been added, or even stacked. Juvenile criminal justice has been criticized for a lack of consistency and clarity.
On September 30, 2021, the Juvenile Criminal Justice Code (CJPM) enters into force. The legislator's ambition was to speed up criminal proceedings and to strengthen the care of juvenile offenders through the Judicial Protection of Youth (PJJ). For this purpose, all the provisions specific to minors have been combined in a single code (read more about Vie-publique.fr).
