France: The Justice Minister referred the matter to the Higher Council of the Judiciary due to serious shortcomings in the Lyhanna case. Gérald Darmanin filed a request to have a deputy prosecutor at the Auch prosecution office disciplined, accused of professional misconduct in the investigation into the murder of Lyhanna, an 11-year-old girl found dead in the Gers. The inspection report highlights systemic gaps: the magistrate failed to check the criminal background of the accused, Jérôme Barella, nor did she organize a review meeting. Moreover, the suspect had already been implicated in cases involving sexual assault on minors, which the magistrate closed without follow-up, without consulting the Cassiopée database. These oversights allowed a recognized sex predator to remain active. [1]
As the story develops
Update
France: Justice Minister Darmanin Sues for Magistrate's Incompetence in Lyhanna Case
France's Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has formally referred the case of Clémence Meyer, a deputy prosecutor at the Auch court, to the Higher Council of the Judiciary (CSM), citing serious professional misconduct in the investigation surrounding the murder of 11-year-old Lyhanna. The girl was found dead in the Gers department in early June 2026. While the minister’s move targets the magistrate directly, it emerges alongside a damning 95-page interministerial report that exposes systemic failures across the entire judicial and law enforcement apparatus, suggesting that the responsibility lies far beyond a single individual. [2]
The new report, released to the press on Thursday evening, details how critical safeguards collapsed at multiple levels. A crucial alert from March 13, 2026, never reached the Auch prosecutor's office due to a technical glitch. A residential care facility had sent an urgent email reporting that a minor had disclosed inappropriate gestures by Jérôme Barella during a summer sleepover party. However, a ministry spam filter blocked the message without sending any failure notification. Believing the justice system had been notified, the sender did not follow up. Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office remained unaware, leaving the child protection authorities blind to a known risk. The report notes that an automatic error message was technically impossible to send, effectively burying the warning. [2]
Compounding these failures, a gendarmerie investigation into Barella was paralyzed for four months, from mid-February until Lyhanna disappeared in late May 2026. The mother of a previous victim called the Lectoure gendarmerie brigade eight times, often visibly distressed, seeking updates on the progress of the inquiry. The investigating officer never responded. While the officer cited high activity levels due to agricultural protests and drug-related cases, inspectors dismissed this explanation as unacceptable. They concluded that his inaction constituted a serious breach of duty, noting that preliminary checks needed before placing the suspect under arrest could have been completed rapidly. Furthermore, hierarchical control within the brigade was found to be deficient, with superiors failing to verify the actual status of the investigation. [2]
The report also highlights administrative delays caused by procedural transfers, such as a ten-month hiatus for a prior complaint between March 2023 and January 2024. After police closed their investigation and mailed it to the Auch prosecutor's office, the registry returned it due to a missing registration number. The file sat dormant in Béthune for months until a magistrate signed the transfer order in November 2023, only for the physical document to arrive back in Auch in January 2024. The interministerial mission condemned this 'manifestly excessive delay' and the degraded treatment of the procedure and the victim involved. [2]
The decision to focus disciplinary action solely on Prosecutor Meyer has sparked outrage among magistrates' unions. The Union Syndicale des Magistrats (USM) argues that there is a significant disconnect between the report, which attributes failures to broader structural responsibilities, and the specific sanction aimed at Meyer. Audrey Bailleul, USM national secretary, criticized the lack of transparency, stating the union learned of the referral through the media rather than official channels, leaving Meyer unprepared for the ensuing media storm. Currently on sick leave, the deputy prosecutor has not yet had the opportunity to present her side of the story to the inspection. Bailleul emphasized that Meyer has legitimate points to raise in her defense and that her current situation fails to meet the basic rights afforded to any defendant. [2]
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