the Modern Application of Principle Discretionary Prosecution

Since 1990, the procedural landscape in France has undergone profound changes. The evolution of alternative procedures to prosecution and of prosecution itself has profoundly altered the meaning of prosecutorial discretion. The approach taken by the public prosecutor's office involves directing a case brought before it toward one of the possible procedural avenues, based on legal and factual parameters. The public prosecutor may thus initiate prosecution, implement an alternative procedure to prosecution, or dismiss the case. Faced with an explosion of litigation that was paralyzing the courts, new procedures emerged to attempt to absorb this influx and extend the scope of criminal law to new types of conduct. The rationalization of the criminal justice response has taken precedence over the principle of prosecutorial discretion. Consequently, what is the impact of the diversification of procedures on the choice of course of action? With the benefit of hindsight since the creation of these new procedures, have successive legislative changes led to a break with judicial tradition, understood as the application of the principle of prosecutorial discretion?

Pages: 68, Paperback, Our Knowledge Publishing