Impact of Changing the Definition of the Crime
Impact of changing the definition of the crime of taking illegal interest of an elected
“The proposed legislation to reform the field of prosecution of the illegal taking of interests of local politicians, filed by Senator Saugey and adopted on first reading in the Senate, seeks to exclude the crime of taking illegal interest of an elected local in the absence of personal enrichment. The aim of the amendment to Article 432-12 of the Penal Code, to delete any reference to the concept of personal interest.
Currently, “the fact of a person holding public authority or a public service mission or by a person holding an elective public office, take, receive or retain, directly or indirectly, any interest in a company or in a transaction which it has at the time of the act, in whole or part, responsible for providing oversight, administration, liquidation or payment, is punishable by 5 years imprisonment and 75,000 euro fine.
This provision penalizes especially the fact or to award a contract position to a person of his entourage or knowledge, thereby override the public interest, personal interests (family, emotional, political, etc.)
The text adopted, abolishing the concept of “any interest” and substituted the more restrictive of ‘personal interest distinct from the general interest “. In other words, Article 432-12 amended would read thus: the fact of a person holding public authority or a public service mission or by a person holding an elective office public, take, receive or retain, directly or indirectly, an interest distinct from the general interest in a business or a transaction for which it has at the time of the act, in whole or in part, responsible for ensuring monitoring, administration, liquidation or payment, is punishable by 5 years imprisonment and 75,000 euros fine.
The reform thus expressly rejects the field of prosecution, on the one hand, situations in which elected officials serving in the capacity of representative of their community in the decision-making authorities outside agencies (such as a public institution or parastatal organizations), and Moreover, situations where the elected foster knowledge in the hope of getting a profit later, then in the end there would still decline of the public.
Hopefully during the debates in the National Assembly, the MPs – also for many local officials, thus directly concerned – do not condone this in turn easing of the criminal sanction.