#AGE OF CONSENT IN FRANCE CODE#

When the perpetrator is subjected to a procedural act, for example a hearing, this interrupts the statute of limitations not only in the case under consideration, but also in the proceedings of other minor victims of rape or assault. Thus, the commission of a new offense may extend the limitation period for an old offense.Ī second mechanism has been voted: an act interrupting prescription. It introduced a principle of “sliding” or “prolonged” limitation if the perpetrator subsequently rapes or sexually assaults another child, until the prescription date of this new offense. The new law does not change the statute of limitations for sexual crimes against minors, extended by the law of August 3, 2018: 30 years from the victim’s majority, i.e. The penalties are also 20 years or 10 years imprisonment. But if the perpetrator of the incestuous sexual act is a member of the family other than the father, mother or grandparents, this adult (brother, sister, uncle, aunt, step-parent) must exercise over the child “a de jure or de facto authority” to qualify the act as a crime or aggression without seeking the child’s non-consent. In case of incest, the minor is presumed non-consenting until 18 years old. Consent threshold at age 18 in the event of incest.In this case, the age threshold for non-consent is set at 13 years old. It will also be necessary to look for elements of violence, constraint, threat or surprise. It therefore concerns young adults having sex with minors aged 13 and over, so as not to penalize “adolescent love affairs”. Threshold of consent at 13 years old in the event of an age difference of less than 5 yearsĪ waiver clause nicknamed “Romeo et Juliette”, provides that, if the age difference between the adult and the child is less than 5 years, the new qualification of rape or assault will not automatically apply.Specific conditions: threshold of non-consent at 13 or 18 years old This is a major step forward in the fight against impunity for sexual violence committed against children.

Pedophiles can no longer rely on the so-called “consent” of their victims. Without penetration, the sexual act will be qualified as sexual assault, with a penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros. Thus any act of penetration by an adult to a minor under the age of 15 (including oral genital acts) will be considered a crime with a penalty of 20 years in prison.

From now on, new legal articles inserted in the Code Pénal create sexual offenses specifically concerning minors.

Billon believes that “the notion of consent, already complex when the victim is an adult, simply has no place in the debate when the victim is particularly young”. In fact, in order to qualify it as a crime or sexual assault, it was necessary to seek, as with practices between adults, elements of violence, constraint, threat or surprise. Annick Billon, the senator behind the bill, the objective was to certify the prohibition of any sexual act between an adult and a child.

Consent threshold set at 15 years oldįor Mrs. Below is an introduction about the 4 flagship measures. This law also includes other provisions to combat crimes and sexual offenses against minors. It introduces for the first time an age threshold for non-consent at 15 years old and 18 in the event of incest.ĬAMELEON welcomes this historic breakthrough for which we have been fighting for several years, made possible thanks to the courageous testimonies of former victims and the mobilization of numerous associations, parliamentarians and citizens. While 165,000 children are victims of sexual abuse each year, a new law was enacted in April 2021 to better protect children.

#AGE OF CONSENT IN FRANCE CODE#

Age of consent in france