Dagger, baton, brass knuckles, tear gas spray… An experimental phase has begun in twelve jurisdictions concerning the possibility of penalizing the carrying of a category D weapon with a fixed fine of 500 euros, we learned. Saturday from a source close to the matter, confirming information from Le Figaro.
The Directorate of Criminal Affairs and Pardons (DGAC) distributed a dispatch on April 12 opening the experiment in Bobigny, Bordeaux, Lille and Lyon in particular, then from May 2 in Paris, with a “first assessment” planned for the 17 June.
This concerns the application of the Lopmi law of January 24, 2023 which extended the scope of the criminal fixed fine (AFD) to new offenses, including carrying a category D weapon without legitimate reason, obstruction of traffic and entry into a competition area, also affected by the experiment.
Minors excluded
According to the “use doctrine”, which may be modified after the experiment, this fine is possible “in the event of voluntary surrender of the weapon”. It is excluded if it is a minor or a repeat offender and in the event of carrying/transporting to a meeting. In all cases, a classic investigation procedure with police custody can always be decided by the public prosecutor's office.
This concerns “bladed weapons” and “incapacitating weapons”, i.e. “daggers, stabbing knives and batons”, “tear gas or incapacitating aerosols” up to 100 ml, “electric pulse weapons” with “touching tips” and other weapons such as “bayonets, crossbows, brass knuckles and slingshots”. In the event of a fine, these weapons are seized and destroyed.
Established in 2016, the criminal fixed fine (AFP) is a fine issued in flagrante delicto by a police officer or gendarme on a mobile device and which constitutes a conviction and entry in the criminal record, as for any crime.
The fixed fine procedure, originally reserved for contraventions, was extended to traffic offenses before involving others, in particular the use of narcotics, the illegal occupation of public or private land, or the occupation of building halls.
In May 2023, the Defender of Rights recommended the abolition of the AFD, in particular due to a “risk of arbitrariness and disparities in treatment” while the choice of whether or not to resort to this sanction rests solely on the appreciation of the agent. At the time, the Ministries of the Interior and Justice considered that these arguments were "unfounded", stating among other things that the police act under the direction of the prosecutor and obey "local instructions » issued by each public prosecutor's office.