France General Discussion IV: Yellow Fever

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2020/12/02/valery-giscard-d-estaing-ancien-president-de-la-republique-est-mort_6061969_3382.html

VGE has passed away. A bit before my time, but I thought "Ramenez la coupe à la maison" was a pretty good song.

RIP to a true Red Tory.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Is fish not considered meat nowadays?

One could argue that in Catholic societies it never has been.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

MP's have approved legislation that states that the age of consent in France is fifteen, except in cases of incest, in which it is eighteen.

French MPs have unanimously approved a long-awaited draft law to protect children from rape and sexual abuse.

The legislation, drawn up after a series of scandals involving high-profile figures, establishes an age of “non-consent” at 15 under which a child cannot be considered to have willingly engaged in a sexual act. In cases of incest, the age has been set at 18.

Around 300 amendments were proposed and discussed, but the law, proposed by Emmanuel Macron’s government, was passed with cross-party support.

The first article of the new law establishes that “any act of sexual penetration of whatever nature” including oral sex, committed by an adult on a person under the age of 15 is considered to be rape.

“In this way, no adult will be able to claim consent from a minor under this age of non-consent,” the minister of justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, told the Assemblée Nationale, the lower house of the French parliament.

The penalty for rape, incestuous or not, is set at 20 years in prison.

The draft legislation, which includes new laws covering all acts of sexual assault and abuse of minors, now passes to the upper house, the Sénat, for approval.

To avoid criminalising sex between teenagers and young adults, it includes a so-called “Romeo and Juliet” clause that says punishment should only apply if the difference in age between the adult and the person under 15 is at least five years. This clause would not apply in rape or assault cases.

“I do not want to be sending a kid of 18 before a court because he had a consenting relationship with a girl of 14-and-a-half,” Dupond-Moretti said.

The legislation also proposes an extension to the statute of limitation for the rape of a minor in cases where the adult goes on to rape others, and prison sentences of 10 years and a fine of €150,000 for anyone convicted of inciting children under 15 to commit sexual acts on the internet.

The bill, which will now be considered by a committee made up of MPs and senators, is expected to be passed into law in a matter of weeks.

Any more movement on this?