[ La répression de l’infraction de viol sur mineur à l’épreuve des pratiques judiciaires en RDC: Cas du Tribunal de Grande Instance de Mbandaka, de 2020 à 2023 ]
Volume 42, Issue 1, March 2024, Pages 158–168
Cédric IMPOELA BOTULI1
1 Assistant à l’ISRD-MBANDAKA, RD Congo
Original language: French
Copyright © 2024 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Rape of minors is a recurring social phenomenon, a worrying situation and a permanent danger for Congolese society. The effective repression of this offense remains the only remedy allowing the harmonious protection of Congolese children in general and those of the province of Equateur in particular. The Congolese legislator, in order to protect the child against all forms of sexual violence, has developed laws that can constitute the guardian of the life of the Congolese child in the image of the shield and the sword. Very unfortunately the judicial actors (OPJ and magistrates) supposed to repress do not properly repressing and condemning the offender to 20 years of penal servitude. In the judicial practice of the Mbandaka high court and its attached prosecutor’s office, the repression of the said offense is not appropriate due to the fact that on the one hand there are always amicable negotiation between the two families before the judicial body and on the other hand the fanciful sentence of 6 months, 2 or 3 years of SPP, yet Congolese legislation provides for a sentence of up to 20 years of SPP. Faced with this worrying situation Congolese children, the repression of rape of minors often proves to be contrary to the best interests of the child. Not only do minors have difficulty accessing justice, but also the fear of reprisals and the impunity of perpetrators of rape of minors is a recurring phenomenon. Alongside the laws and mechanisms which are failing, one of major gaps in the DRC is the cost of a criminal trial. Indeed, without the intervention and assistance of the state, the minor or his parents are incapable of meeting the costs of the procedures. Either the parents prefer to compromise to the detriment of best interests of the child, or they file a complaint but abandon the proceedings, no longer able to pay for the services of a lawyer. This study therefore confirms the need to strengthen the protection of minors through effective repression of rape of minors. This requires the improvement of standards and mechanisms, as well as the development of alternatives such as legal aid. Significant efforts have been made to protect minors through the establishment of more or less effective laws and more or less effective mechanisms for repressing rape in the best interests of the Child.
Author Keywords: Repression, offense, minor, judicial practices.
Volume 42, Issue 1, March 2024, Pages 158–168
Cédric IMPOELA BOTULI1
1 Assistant à l’ISRD-MBANDAKA, RD Congo
Original language: French
Copyright © 2024 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Rape of minors is a recurring social phenomenon, a worrying situation and a permanent danger for Congolese society. The effective repression of this offense remains the only remedy allowing the harmonious protection of Congolese children in general and those of the province of Equateur in particular. The Congolese legislator, in order to protect the child against all forms of sexual violence, has developed laws that can constitute the guardian of the life of the Congolese child in the image of the shield and the sword. Very unfortunately the judicial actors (OPJ and magistrates) supposed to repress do not properly repressing and condemning the offender to 20 years of penal servitude. In the judicial practice of the Mbandaka high court and its attached prosecutor’s office, the repression of the said offense is not appropriate due to the fact that on the one hand there are always amicable negotiation between the two families before the judicial body and on the other hand the fanciful sentence of 6 months, 2 or 3 years of SPP, yet Congolese legislation provides for a sentence of up to 20 years of SPP. Faced with this worrying situation Congolese children, the repression of rape of minors often proves to be contrary to the best interests of the child. Not only do minors have difficulty accessing justice, but also the fear of reprisals and the impunity of perpetrators of rape of minors is a recurring phenomenon. Alongside the laws and mechanisms which are failing, one of major gaps in the DRC is the cost of a criminal trial. Indeed, without the intervention and assistance of the state, the minor or his parents are incapable of meeting the costs of the procedures. Either the parents prefer to compromise to the detriment of best interests of the child, or they file a complaint but abandon the proceedings, no longer able to pay for the services of a lawyer. This study therefore confirms the need to strengthen the protection of minors through effective repression of rape of minors. This requires the improvement of standards and mechanisms, as well as the development of alternatives such as legal aid. Significant efforts have been made to protect minors through the establishment of more or less effective laws and more or less effective mechanisms for repressing rape in the best interests of the Child.
Author Keywords: Repression, offense, minor, judicial practices.
How to Cite this Article
Cédric IMPOELA BOTULI, “The repression of the offense of rape of a minor put to the test of judicial practices in the DRC: Case of the Mbandaka High Court, from 2020 to 2023,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 158–168, March 2024.
