France: Ex-Partner of Deported Moroccan Sues the State

Paris – A French woman, a victim of domestic violence, has filed a lawsuit against the French State before the Paris Judicial Court, protesting against being deprived of the opportunity to attend the trial of her Moroccan ex-partner who was deported to Morocco. The plaintiff demands recognition of the serious malfunctions she claims to have suffered at the hands of the judicial authorities.

Khadija, who preferred not to give her last name, awaits this court hearing with great hope that justice will acknowledge that her rights have been “trampled upon.” Speaking to AFP before the hearing, the thirty-year-old said, “I think it’s important that I am heard, that people know the effects these malfunctions have had on my life.”

In 2017, Khadija filed a complaint against her ex-partner for rape, torture, and acts of barbarity. The investigating judge ordered his referral to the Haute-Vienne Assize Court, but Khadija was not informed of the trial date. She learned from the media in September 2020 that the trial was already underway.

“I was ready to see him in the dock. My goal was for justice to convict him,” the young woman explained. Despite her numerous calls to the public prosecutor’s office, the trial proceeded without her presence. Her ex-partner was sentenced to eight years in prison for the violence but acquitted of the rape charges.

“The Haute-Vienne Assize Court deprived Khadija of the opportunity to make her voice heard, to assert her rights, and to allow for an informed verdict,” denounced her lawyer, Pauline Rongier. “The court judged acts of marital rape in the absence of the sole witness: the victim. This is a judicial aberration,” Rongier continued.

In June 2021, the Court of Cassation acknowledged that the necessary steps had not been taken to contact and summon the victim to the trial. However, Khadija was unable to appeal the judgment because French law does not allow a civil party to appeal the criminal aspect of a verdict.

“We must force the State to amend this law,” insisted Rongier, who intends to denounce a legislative deficiency. The lawyer also intends to point out judicial errors, notably the absence of the civil party from the trial, even though the latter had contacted the justice system to report that she had not been summoned.

Khadija’s ex-partner, who was in an irregular situation in France, was deported to Morocco upon his release from prison in February 2024.