Symposium: “Different perspectives on the status of minors”

Friday, November 10, 2017, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Faculty of Law and Political Science, Lecture Hall 201, Building 2

The Symposium " Different perspectives on the status of minors ", organized by Professor Marie-Christine Sordino, director of the Montpellier criminal law team, and Gaëlle Serva, Doctor of Law at the University of Montpellier, is a highly topical event.
The recent reforms of March 14, 2016 relating to " child protection " and November 18, 2016, known as " modernization of justice in the 21st century "demonstrate, once again, how necessary it is to reflect on the status of minors in France.
To be considered " not as a smaller version of an adult, but as a being in the process of development According to Robert BADINTER, the medical and legal care of minors—whether offenders or victims—presents a definite challenge for the various judicial and social actors involved, requiring a balance between the need for punishment, the duty to educate, and the need for special protection.
However, it must be acknowledged that this delicate balance is still difficult to achieve. For a century, the status of minors has remained at the heart of intractable debates—on issues such as the very definition of the concept of minority, the determination of minors' civil and criminal responsibilities, the characterization of minors' discernment, and their consent to sexual offenses.
Featuring a variety of presentations, roundtable discussions, and debates, this scientific meeting was organized by the Montpellier Criminal Law Team (EDPM-UMR 5815). Law dynamics), therefore proposes to explore these various points in greater depth. By bringing together the views of academics, professionals, lawyers, psychologists, community workers, and youth protection workers, it traces and nuances the various advances and grey areas in the justice system's approach to minors, who are both offenders and victims.