French parties demand judicial reform after the murder of 11-year-old Lyhanna, whose suspect faced six unactioned abuse complaints since 2017
The murder of Lyhanna, an 11-year-old whose body was found on June 4 in the Gers, has pushed French politicians from left to far right to demand an overhaul of how the justice system handles child sexual-abuse complaints: the chief suspect, Jerome Barella, 41, had been the subject of at least six procedures for sexual violence against minors since 2017 without ever being questioned. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin conceded that the system "failed in the follow-up of the complaints," and the proposals now range from Bruno Retailleau's disciplinary court for magistrates to Delphine Batho's call to re-examine 70,000 pending sexual-violence complaints. The Elysee acknowledged "dysfunctions" in the handling of the case.
The discovery of Lyhanna's body on Thursday, June 4 in the Gers turned a local crime into a national political reckoning. The 11-year-old's chief suspect, 41-year-old Jerome Barella, had since 2017 been the subject of at least six administrative or judicial procedures concerning sexual violence against minors, yet had never been questioned. The case, which days earlier had prompted an emergency government response, dominated French politics over the weekend of June 6-7 as figures from across the spectrum proposed competing fixes.
The presidency moved first to concede fault. On Friday, June 5 the Elysee deplored "dysfunctions" in the handling of the complaints against Barella. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said the same day that "the judicial institution did not know how to protect" the girl and that "we failed in the follow-up of the complaints."
Bruno Retailleau, president of Les Republicains and a candidate for the presidency, proposed on Saturday, June 6 in Le Parisien the creation of a "disciplinary court of the magistracy" to take over sanctions from the current High Council of the Judiciary (CSM), which he called "too corporatist." Retailleau claimed that "in some fifteen years, a single sanction -- a reprimand -- has been handed down." The claim is contradicted by the CSM's own published record, which shows six sanctions, up to temporary exclusion, in the first months of 2026 alone. Retailleau said his proposed court would seat "a college of citizens, chosen by lot" alongside magistrates and qualified figures, would not be chaired by a magistrate, and could be referred cases by citizens, by magistrates' superiors, or by the justice minister.
Delphine Batho, the Generation Ecologie deputy for the Deux-Sevres and a presidential candidate, told franceinfo on Sunday, June 7 that the roughly 70,000 rape and sexual-assault complaints awaiting processing in France should "be re-examined" and cross-checked, calling the treatment of child victims "an enormous scandal in France." Rather than new laws or commissions "that take time," she argued, the immediate step was "an exceptional mechanism" for those 70,000 complaints, along with a specialized minors' brigade in every French department.
Other parties pressed their own remedies. Edouard Philippe, the Horizons candidate, demanded on June 4 on X "a genuine precautionary principle" against violence done to children, giving "absolute priority" to children's complaints and reports, coordinating services and accelerating procedures. Pierre Jouvet, secretary-general of the Parti socialiste, called on June 7 on France 3 for a major national consultation on child protection and urged the government to act on the four priorities set by the Ciivise, the independent commission on incest and sexual violence against children: detection of victims, rapid judicial handling, support and reparation including care, and prevention. For the Rassemblement national, spokesman Julien Odoul argued on June 5 on franceinfo that "the first protection is deterrence," called penalties insufficient, and faulted a planned 8.8-million-euro budget cut to justice as well as Macron's unkept 2017 promise to build 15,000 prison places. Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise, and Raphael Glucksmann of Place publique both demanded -- on June 5 and June 4 respectively -- more resources for investigators and emergency procedures so that abuse cases "rise to the top of the pile."