However it seems that this Bill be now suspended

While he is said proven that the current crisis is its cause in seriously inconsistent behaviour of the financial and investment bankers, the rulers are shared between the economic need to be to the rescue of their institutions and political will to punish those of their leaders who were driven bankrupt. The two routes are certainly not exclusive of the other, as come show taunts of Caisses d'Epargne. The guarantee provided by the State was accompanied by the sanction of those which has led it, forced to resign. Sanctions of a different nature also follow perhaps, as civil or criminal misconduct would be established.

In this context, the "decriminalization of the life of the business", that the President of the Republic had called to his wishes, might seem perfectly inappropriate and outdated. The report of the Working Group on the decriminalization of the life of affairs, chaired by Jean-Marie Coulon, first Honorary President of the Court of appeal of Paris, had yet been well received when it was handed over to the custody of the seals on February 20, 2008. The explanation lies in the balance of its proposals, which are not limited to advocate the abolition of criminal offences, to suggest other ways of reforms capable of producing the expected decriminalization. Therefore, the Coulon report made important proposals to strengthen the attractiveness of the civil justice to reduce artificially fined litigation. In the same spirit, it is used to better articulate the powers of sanction of the MFA and of the Council of competition with criminal justice so as to prevent their cumulative implementation.

What about Bill

The balance and coherence of these proposals had led the keeper of the seals to declare that they would find their translation in a Bill and a coherent penal policy ". This Bill is completed, at least in a first version. It takes most of the proposals of the Coulon report. It thus modifies the prescription of public action posing as intangible starting point the date of the facts and lengthening of limitation periods which are notably brought to 7 years for offences punishable than 3 years ' imprisonment. It increases the penalty for the offence of insiders, from 2 to 3 years, and removes a large number of offences which have fallen into disuse or for which a civil device appears more effective. For the offences, it lengthens the delay between the prior complaint and the filing of a complaint with civil constitution, which is fixed at 6 months instead of the 3 months currently planned. It requires consideration that without classification decisions are a detailed motivation.

The project also takes non-criminal report Coulon proposals, which are not less spectacular. That is why it proposes the creation of a consumer law group action. One of the most anticipated and extensively discussed reforms is likely to see finally the day.

However, it seems that this Bill be now suspended. No doubt the current crisis requires urgent reforms. It may suggests that the Government will further down the line in the current context, to present a project of decriminalization of the life of affairs, according to an appellation which now seems far from sanctionnatrices and punitive timing concerns. Yet, the Coulon report does not both, in his own words of conclusion, "decriminalise to better penalize". The proposal for the creation of a group action or even increase the penalty for the offence of insider won't obviously Backwashing. they are developments including the current crisis itself shows the need. Moreover, the more general through our criminal law that the Coulon report are intended to correct exist. Forget, therefore, if necessary, the end of "decriminalization", which cannot be in vogue; but did not abandon the proposals made in calmer times on the sole pretext of the storm.