2019

Anne PONSEILLE, Assoc. Professor, Center for Constitutional and Political Comparative Studies and Research, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Montpellier, Minimum Sentences in French Criminal Law: between Shadow and Light

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.31178/AUBD.2019.01

Abstract: The minimum sentences, that is to say the sentences for which the legislator imposes the pronouncement of a minimum quantum, have in French criminal law a chaotic history which reflects a measured confidence of the legislator in the judge for the sentencing. While they disappeared with the reform of the Penal Code in 1994, it seems that the minimum sentences are gradually returning in French criminal law.


Keywords: criminal law, minimum sentences, custodial sentences, sentencing by the judge, principle of individualization of sentences, constitutionality of minimum sentences
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