Provisional Execution in Penal Matters

• NCJ Number: 73949
• Journal: Revue de science criminelle et de droit penal compare Issue: 3 Dated: (July-September 1980) Pages: 587-623
• Author(s): A Larguier
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 37 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: French
• Country: France

Annotation

The use of provisional execution of sentences in French criminal cases to speed up judicial proceedings while assuring protection of personal interests is discussed.

Abstract

Provisional execution means that execution of a sentence is delayed to allow for a different solution or for confirmation by an irrevocable decision. Although provisional execution of sentences is most common in civil cases, the practice has become increasingly common in criminal cases involving the principles of treatment of the offender and of protection of society from dangerous individuals. Thus execution of penalties may be deferred in cases of juvenile delinquents whose health, security, and morality are endangered and who therefore require special educational assistance. Execution of penalties may also be delayed for individuals, especially juveniles, in need of treatment for drug or alcohol addiction. The use of provisional execution has increased in connection with the expansion of probation, facilitating rehabilitative efforts for a number of offenses while presenting an immediate possibility for executing the existing penalty if actions of the probationer are a public danger. When a convicted offender refuses to submit to the supervision conditions of his or her probation, the judge for application of penalties can have the offender jailed. An order to release a prisoner during investigations for the preliminary hearing or main trial as well as pending appeal can also be delayed under the provisional execution rule. Provisional execution may also be applied to such secondary penalties as suspension or revocation of a driver's license and denial of banking rights because of check fraud. The domain of provisional execution is being expanded to measures which themselves are being extended to new areas, for example, special confiscation and false advertising. Notes are supplied.