Law No. 1.517 of 23 December 2021 reforming the provisions relating to the criminalisation of sexual assaults

Law No. 1.517 of 23 December 2021 reforming the provisions relating to the criminalisation of sexual assaults (published in the JDM of 7 January 2022) is the result of Bill No. 1027 (21 articles), which was received by the Parliament (Conseil National) on 24 November 2020 and passed on 15 December 2021.

Objectives of Law No. 1.517:

> Redefine the constituent elements of offences and penalties, in order to "give full effectiveness and reason to the repression of sexual offences' (Explanatory Memorandum to Bill No. 1027, p. 3).

• The proposed overhaul of the provisions of the Penal Code is based on the observation that "certain behaviours constituting sexual violence are not currently the subject of fully adequate incriminations, which need to be both modernised and perfected". (ibid).

• It is also a question of "facilitating prosecutions, in order to take account of the difficulties encountered by the courts at the procedural level, linked to the criminal nature of the offences", and of improving the time taken to make reparation for victims by making certain sexual offences (previously crimes) criminal offences, but without reducing the penalties incurred (Report on Bill No. 1027, p. 2).
  

> Redefine rape and other sexual assaults by reference to the criterion of lack of consent to the sexual act given of one's own free will, as recommended by CEDAW and GREVIO (CEDAW/C/MCO/CO/1-3 of 22 November 2017, spec. § 26; GREVIO/Inf(2017)3, spec. § 116).

• "Under this approach, the use of violence, coercion, threat or surprise would make it possible to characterise the absence of consent as evidence, although this list is not exhaustive" (Explanatory Memorandum to Bill 1027, p. 5).
  

• The update reflects the "change in penal philosophy": "originally, sexual offences constituted an attack on the public good, they are now understood as attacks on the person". (Report on Bill No. 1027, p. 3).

> Adjustments to the Code of Criminal Procedure 'to take account of the procedural repercussions of the changes made to the incriminations in the criminal corpus' (ibid. p. 2).

Sources of inspiration for Law No. 1.517:

> On the one hand, it is inspired by international standards and work on sexual violence (Explanatory Memorandum to Bill No. 1027, p. 4), and in particular:

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the work of its Monitoring Committee (CEDAW): CEDAW, General Recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, updating General Recommendation No. 19, 2017, CEDAWC/GC/35, § 29;

• Council of Europe Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and the work of the Group of Experts on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO): Article 36 "Sexual violence including rape" of the Convention.

> On the other hand, the system is designed to punish sexual offences against minors, also in the light of the far-reaching reform carried out by French law no. 2021-478 of 21 April 2021 aimed at protecting minors from sexual offences and incest (published in the JORF of 22 April 2021).