France / Bobigny Court / Criminal judgment

Country

France

Title

France / Bobigny Court / Criminal judgment

View full Case

Year

2016

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Incident(s) concerned/related

Property offence

Related Bias motivation

Nationality

Groups affected

Third country nationals

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Bobigny Court (Tribunal de grande instance de Bobigny)

Key facts of the case

Ms. Zhang was followed by three people and was struck on the head; she fell to the ground and her bag was stolen from her. One of the perpetrators punched her brother-in-law in the left eye.

Main reasoning/argumentation

Article 132-76 of the Criminal Code provides that the sentences incurred for a crime or an offence are increased when the offence committed is based on the membership or the non-membership, real or supposed, of the victim to an ethnic group, a nation, a race or a given religion. The aggravating circumstance in this case was not the object of any argument on behalf those accused. It was noted that the three persons accused had recently been found guilty over a recent period of several offences committed in a gang on victims of Asia-Pacific origin. The way the accused operated in the present case reveals selection and a prior identification of victims.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

The conditions necessary for aggravating circumstances when the offence is committed on the grounds of the membership or of the non-membership, real or supposed, of the victim to an ethnic group, a nation, a race or a given religion.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

Two perpetrators were sentenced to a twelve month prison sentence and one perpetrator was sentenced to an eighteen month prison sentence for gang theft, with non-incapacitating violence on another person on the grounds of the race or the ethnic group of the victim, in this case the Asia-Pacific community.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Le mobile raciste relatif à l’intention des auteurs présumés de l’infraction doit être analysé à l’aune du choix effectué le cas échéant de s’en prendre au membre de tel ou tel groupe, ou en raison de l’appartenance, vraie ou supposée, de la victime à ce même groupe ethnique, religieux, national."

"The racist motive relating to the accused must be analyzed in light of the choice made, if this is the case, to attack a member of a certain group, or because of the membership, real or supposed, of the victim to this ethnic, religious, or national group."

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