One last attempt at explaining French judicial process, then I give up and leave ignorance, prejudice and parochialism to get on with it.
I will try to give parallel equivalences purely to aid a misty understanding. The parallels will of course not always coincide in the detail.
French law has three levels of procedure
1) "Tribunal de Police" concerned with mundane matters such as traffic offenses
2) "Tribunal Correctionnel", concerned with "delits" which may be thought of by British readers as "misdemeanours. I do not know if US readers have an equivalent in their multiple systems of law.
3) "Cour d' Assise" to try "crimes". No translation needed. The word is spelt the same in both languages.
We can forget 1) above; it has no relevance here.
Those against whom the process is applied are termed:
- in the case of 2), "prevenus" which translates as "forewarned"
- in the case of 3), "accusés", which of course translates as "accused"
Now, here is where you have to pay attention.
The procedure at Pontoise was "correctionnel", not criminal (or criminelle if you prefer).
So to all posters, using the inflammatory expression "criminalisation" or "criminalization", pleas note that had the intent of the procedure been to criminaliz(se) the interested parties, the forum would have been the Cour d'Assise, not the Tribunal Correctionnel.
French procedure was applied absolutely correctly.
Those who proclaim that we all in this debate regret the absence of an inquest system in French law do not speak for me. French law has perfectly workable systems in place to deal with this kind of tragic event.
The methods may appear different, and perhaps unfamiliar, but they are valid.
Just a footnote on the use of the word "blame".
As I read or hear the word, it has heavy connotations. I think it should not.
If I sneeze and deposit the product on somebody, I am to blame for soiling their jacket.
It was not a voluntary act.
If I do something in defiance of established law, rules, procedures or whatever, we will use the same term. "I am to blame" or "he is to blame"