"France's justice minister says that he backs scrapping the statute of limitations on "crimes of blood", after the country's top court blocked further court action in a famous cold case. "I'm in favour of putting an end to the statute of limitations for crimes of blood (murder)," Gérald Darmanin told French broadcaster LCI, adding that he was giving his personal point of view. Darmanin was responding to a question about the ruling by France's top court earlier this month on a notorious cold case."
"The Court of Cassation ruled on January 16th that it was too late to judge a man who had confessed to the decades-old murder because too much time had passed. Yves Chatain, confessed in 2022 to the 1986 murder of 25-year-old Marie-Therese Bonfanti, and prosecutors had wanted to bring charges against him. The court ruled that it was too late, despite warnings from France's top prosecutor Remy Heitz that such a ruling could jeopardise other cold cases currently being investigated."
Gérald Darmanin supports ending the statute of limitations for crimes of blood (murder) and framed the view as his personal position. The Court of Cassation ruled on 16 January that it was too late to judge a man who confessed to a decades-old killing, preventing prosecutors from bringing charges. The confession was by Yves Chatain in 2022 for the 1986 murder of 25-year-old Marie-Therese Bonfanti. The court's decision followed warnings from top prosecutor Remy Heitz that similar rulings could jeopardise other cold-case investigations. The limitation for that crime was 10 years at the time, extended to 20 years in 2017. France sets a 30-year limit for the most serious offences such as terrorism and organised drug trafficking, and advances in technology were cited as aiding investigation of past evidence.
Read at The Local France
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