France debates comprehensive sexual violence law amid reports of judicial failures

The French National Assembly is currently debating the ‘loi intégrale’, a comprehensive legislative package aimed at combating sexual violence. A central point of contention is a recommendation from the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children (Ciivise) to implement annual interviews for students from kindergarten through high school to detect potential abuse.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray has expressed reservations regarding the feasibility of universal annual interviews, citing significant staffing requirements—estimated between 7,500 and 15,000 new recruits—and current budgetary constraints.

Parallel to the legislative debate, a leaked internal note from Gérald Darmanin to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has highlighted systemic failures within the justice and police systems. The document reveals chronic staffing shortages, poor case prioritization, and the existence of ‘ghost stocks’—files that remain unrecorded by the justice system because they were never officially transmitted by police or gendarmes. Specific cities like Nîmes, Caen, and Besançon have been identified as having significant numbers of these unrecorded procedures.