Pleasant attack: Most of the civil party applications were declared admissible

A special court in Paris on Friday (May 26) ruled admissible most of the civil party constitutions that followed the July 14, 2016 truck attack in Nice, paving the way for possible compensation.

While 25,000 people gathered on the Promenade des Anglais, Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaij Bouhlel deliberately drove a 19-ton truck into the crowd, killing 86 and injuring more than 400, before being shot dead by police.

On December 13, eight people were sentenced to two to eighteen years in prison. The two directors, Chokri Chafrud and Mohamed Ghraib, who were found guilty of being part of a terrorist criminal association, immediately announced their intention to appeal.

Considering civil interests after criminal convictions, the Special Court considered 2,600 civil party applications and dismissed 337, including first responders (police, firemen, rescuers, etc.). “After the completion of the criminal act, he arrived at the scene of the incident”.

“First responders can be declared eligible once they can demonstrate that they were within the scope of exposure to risk, real or perceived, prior to their intervention.”– said the court. “On the other hand, those who were not on duty and were called to the scene of the accident to participate in covering the bodies, tending to the wounded or preserving the scene of the crime, are not allowed in the constitution of their civilian side. Since they arrived at the scene after the criminal act was over.”the court ruled, thus complying with recent decisions of the Court of Cassation on the admissibility of civil parties in terrorism cases.

“However, it is by no means indisputable that these first responders may have been long and deeply scarred, even traumatized, by the extremely horrific scenes they witnessed.”The court emphasized.

The court also rejected the constitution of civil parties “All persons who were waiting to be heard for the first time as civil parties and who were satisfied with a mere certificate and sometimes a mere unspecified medical report”. Similarly, the court ruled out “All the people who were outside the perimeter [de l’attentat], Even if some may be victims of mob movements or panic caused by baseless rumors and reckless risks.”.

Eligibility of “childless children”.

The admissibility of the claims of the civil party opens the possibility of compensation for the damages caused. Being recognized as a civil party is also highly symbolic for many people traumatized by the attack who want to be recognized as victims. In contrast, the deprivation of the status of a civil party does not give rise to a claim before the jurisdiction of compensation for victims of acts of terrorism (Jivat) for the benefit of any reparations.

“A decision of inadmissibility does not mean that the person concerned has not suffered the consequences of the attack.”– said in the court’s decision.

Against the advice of the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor (PNAT), the court widened the perimeter of the threat to include people who were on the restaurant terraces, the north floor of the Promenade des Anglais and those who were on the beaches. In the festive evening, it is completely pedestrianized.

“Individuals in restaurants and commercial establishments at the time of a criminal act who do not legitimately consider themselves to be in danger will not be declared admissible.”, the court softened. THE “Children Create” The assault may itself be declared admissible in its civil suit “As soon as they can justify a particular prejudice resulting from the harm done to their parents”The court also decided.

Finally, the applications of the civil party from the associations for the protection of victims (Fenvac, AFVT, Promenade des anges, Memorial des anges, La Voix des enfants and Life for Nice) were declared admissible.