Juvenile law pertains to those who are deemed to be below the age of majority, which varies by country and culture. Usually, minors are treated differently under the law. However, even minors may be prosecuted as adults.
In both France and the United States, some actions are prohibited for minors, such as the underage consumption of alcohol or tobacco, truancy, running away from home, and ungovernability. A minor can thus become a status offender.
In the United States, the juvenile varies in definition from state to state. The system applies to anyone between the ages of 6 and 10, depending on the state, and 18;[1] except for 11 states (including Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas), where a juvenile is a person under 17 and New York and North Carolina, where it is under 15. Thus, criminal majority begins at 16, 17, or 18.
The federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act of 1974 set up four key requirements[2] for US minors:
All states participate except South Dakota and Wyoming.
France has three stages of minors:[3]
The criminal irresponsibility of children under 13 is defined by Article 122-8 of the Criminal Code. Those between 13 and 18 are assumed to be irresponsible, but they can be involved in a criminal sentence if the circumstances and the juvenile's delinquent personality justify it.[4]
According to Jean Pierre Rosenczveig, a children's judge in Bobigny, near Paris, the juvenile criminal law in France has six key requirements:[5]
In the US, the presence of an attorney is only recommended, not compulsory.
In most states, special courts try juveniles, but some like Colorado do not have them. Some crimes allow juvenile delinquents to be tried by the superior court (such as first-degree murder or gang murder).
Juveniles also have special protections, in addition to juvenile courts, which are closed to the public in the US. In France, closing the court to the public (huis clos) is an option. Just like in France, US parents or guardians have to be informed and to be present during the police questioning. At least, the names of juveniles are kept confidential when they are accused of a crime. Juvenile cases are heard by not a jury by a judge.
At least, the US criminal law system has a particular vocabulary for juvenile cases. Indeed, juvenile offenders commit not a crime but a delinquent act. Also, courts use the term delinquent or not delinquent, instead of guilty or not guilty, just to show that a minor is different from a criminal.
Juveniles have the same rights as adults. They are assumed innocent, they are notified of charges in advance of any adjudication of delinquency, they have the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and they have the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
After their arrest, in both countries, minors may be placed in provisory detention (until a European Convention on Human Rights case banned it in France) if the parents are prejudiced and informed. Provisory detention is done in a juvenile hall, separated from adults.[6]
US parents may be liable for the acts of their child if they fail their parent's authority, an example being if the minor is involved in a gang offense. Also, juveniles have no right to bail.
As can be noted, UD and French procedures are not that different as they have a common goal: to protect, as much as possible, the interest of the minor offender. Nevertheless, except for detention (the separation from adults as well as parents' awareness), the priorities are different. The US prefers the confidentiality of minors, but France stresses accommodating the juvenile within the criminal system.
Both systems protect but not in the same way. In France, an attorney is compulsory. In the US, there is no jury.
As noted, the goal of juvenile justice in France and the US is clearly to educate child offenders, rather than punish them, even if some measures can be severe.
The order of February 2, 1945, relative to childhood delinquency contains three measures to punish French minor offenders:[7]
The punishment depends on the minor's age. As aforesaid, if he is under 7 or 8, he can have no punishment. If he is between 8 and 13, the sentence is nothing more than an educational punishment. If he is over 13, he can have both an educational and a criminal punishment, but the tribunal has to explain its decision according to the minor's personality and the circumstances.
The US is less divided. The penalty is equal for each juvenile offender over 10, and there is no stage differentiation between measures. However, the measures[8] themselves are quite the same:
Since 1988, the death penalty for children who committed crimes has been outlawed. Also, in March 2005, the death penalty was outlawed for killers who committed their crimes before the age of 18. There were 72 people on death row concerned at the time.
As can be seen, the US and the French systems protect juveniles differently, but both protect effectively. There is also much stress on the prevention of delinquency in both countries.