At first glance, the system seems well-designed. Since the Guigou Law of June 15, 2000, all citizens who are victims of a miscarriage of justice, or who have been wrongfully placed in pretrial detention, are entitled to request financial compensation from the presiding judge of their Court of Appeal. And, if the amount awarded by the judge is not satisfactory, they can appeal to the National Commission for Compensation for Wrongful Detention at the Court of Cassation. “In neighboring countries, damages are assessed mechanically: it’s a certain number of euros per day of detention, regardless of the circumstances,” explains Yves Charpenel, the Advocate General who presides over this compensation body. “We, on the other hand, take into account the individual’s state of health, their personal situation,
their conditions of detention—in short, we tailor our approach to each case. It’s a much fairer method.”
In theory, perhaps. But in reality, the compensation awarded is often utterly disproportionate to the suffering endured. Firstly, because it only takes into account periods of detention. No prison, no money: such is the credo of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Wrongfully accused by judges—and by the press—of alleged sexual crimes, Dominique Baudis, for example, never received a single penny in compensation. His sweating during a 2003 television news broadcast, however, demonstrates that one can endure a judicial ordeal without being incarcerated. And so do the dozens of innocent people forced each year to undergo a rectal examination in the “mousetrap” of the Paris courthouse.
Secondly, because judges display incredible stinginess in awarding compensation. Would you believe it? On average, they grant their victims no more than 55 euros per day of imprisonment for moral damages, and barely another 20 euros to cover all material damages (reimbursement of lost wages, legal fees, etc.), amounting to a mere 2,000 euros per month in total. Not much, considering the overcrowding and violence that prevail in the prisons where detainees languish in pretrial detention. But still too much for the Ministry of Finance, which systematically uses its lawyers to appear before the Compensation Commissions in an attempt to reduce the amount owed.
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