“Right of correction”: what is this reason which justifies the release of a police major accused of violence against his children ?

The “right of correction” justified, according to the court of appeal, the release of the police officer. Illustration MAXPPP – Alexis Christiaen (GDP)

Accused of violence against his children and convicted at first instance, a police officer was acquitted on appeal on the grounds that he exercised a right of correction. What does this decision mean, which legitimizes the use of violence in the family??

He recognizes an education "strict and rude". A border police major was acquitted on Thursday April 19 by the Metz Court of Appeal after a first conviction proceedings to 18 months suspended prison sentence for violence against his children.

While he had received 18 months in prison with a two-year probationary suspension as well as withdrawal of parental authority in July 2023, this man therefore benefited from an acquittal on appeal, on the grounds that he legitimately exercised a right of correction, indicates the AFP which cites the order of the court of appeal from Metz.

Anti-Spanking Law

The latter admits that the violence against the children took place, but she justifies it in the name of the right to correction"recognized to parents and currently authorizes the criminal judge to waive sanctioning the perpetrators of violence as long as they have not caused harm to the child, that they remain proportionate to the breach committed and that they are not humiliating".

The term "right of correction" is a legacy of the 19th century, which concerned both women and children. Gradually abolished, the right of correction fell completely into disuse in 2019 with the law which stipulates that from now on, "parental authority is exercised without physical or psychological violence", better known as the "anti-spanking law".

A case law ?

In an article from Point published at the time of the adoption of this law, it is recalled that the dimension " symbolic" of the text, denounced by some, had been defended by the rapporteur of the text, Marie-Pierre de la Gontrie who on this occasion recalled that if the Penal Code prohibits all violence, the exercise of a ’ quot;right of correction" was still sometimes recognized by case law.

It would be precisely this case law that is used by the court of appeal in this situation. Guest on BFM, Me Sandrine Pegand, criminal lawyer, judges the decision of this court "jurisprudential and without legal basis&quot ;. "This right of correction is prohibited since the law of July 10, 2019, ordinary educational violence is prohibited. The law is clear, spanking, slapping, bullying, humiliation are prohibited. This right of correction approved by the court of appeal is quite strange", she recalls.

Three appeals to the Supreme Court

The Court of Appeal did not deny the existence of the violence. According to BFM however, the testimony of one of the children, then aged 12, sends shivers down your spine: "When my father is angry with me, he strangles me and pins me against the wall. Me and my little brother are terrified beyond belief."

The decision scandalizes Me Jérôme Tibéri, who deplores that "the court of appeal acquits because it considers this violence to be legitimate. But it is based on a justifying fact which does not exist in positive law!", indicates Le Parisien.

Still, the acquitted police officer is not done with justice. The lawyers of the latter's wife and children were stunned by the decision and announced that they would appeal to the Court of Cassation. A third appeal was also filed by the Metz public prosecutor's office.