France's Political and Criminal Justice Developments Since 2013 - Essay Sample

Introduction

Since the publication of Comparative Criminal Justice Systems in 2013, several significant political and criminal justice developments have occurred in France. The following section highlights some of these developments. Among areas affected are those relating to the radicalization of Muslim youths into joining terror groups, the political shift towards the right (conservative). This refugee crisis affected the country's borders from two fronts. Finally, the major terrorist attacks, all the previously mentioned events, directly caused the French political and justice system alterations to curb the illegal activities actively. The spread of far-right pollical movements were simply responses to the changes taking place in Europe. Understanding each of the events creates a better appreciation of how the political and justice system is affected by external factors.

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High Unemployment

The changes that have taken place in France will be arranged in chronological order to appreciate better the effects of external factors or influencers on the French political and justice system. Among the first events to take place was the shrinking of the country's economy that resulted in France experiencing a financial recession. The vents previously mentioned took place from the second quarter of 2013 onwards (Clancy, 2013). The World Bank intervened and called for the French government to reduce the cost of labor as well as the hefty tax policies. The high tax rates discouraged people from investing in the country, contributing to the recession. The outcome was a reduction in the country's credit rating from AA+ to AA by the S&P (Standard and Poor) (Polly, 2013). It based on the reduction of the French economic growth reduction caused by high unemployment.

National Front

The outcome of the increased unemployment and economic deterioration in France compared to other years was the re-election of socialist President Hollande and his administration. By the end of the third quarter of 2014, the national front won its first senate seat in the French senate (Chrisafis, 2015). The outcome was devastating as the country's socialist and leftwing politicians were losing control over the country. The negative outcome was in the proposed 2015 national budget allocation. The government cut 21 billion Euros from public spending; however, the government envisioned a deficit of over 4%, which was above the target set by the EU (European Union) of 3% (Tidey, 2014). According to economists, the country was experiencing hysteresis. Defined as the lagging effect of the high structural unemployment rates, the high unemployment contributed to increased unemployment.

Islamic State Attacks

As the country was focusing on addressing its high unemployment crisis in 2015, Islamist gunmen coordinated an attack in Paris that resulted in the death of 17 citizens. The terror organization's action was in response to the French's resistance to Islamic radicalization and activities in Syria (Klein, 2015). It was assumed that the foreign policies between Syria and France contributed to the country's targeting. It is important to note that France was the most active European country in the Syrian Civil War (Callimachi, 2015). After the shooting, the government imposed numerous security changes and measures. Among them was the recruitment of over 2500 intelligence officers in the next few years to aggressively tackle the ISIS issue the country was experiencing. In retaliation to the attacks, France, in September 2015, expanded its attacks in Syria, launching airstrikes targeting the Islamic group's strongholds in Syria (Nossiter, 2019). ISIS then attacked France in November 2015, killing approximately 130 people, and injuring many others.

The attack was deemed as among the worst the country has experienced since the Second World War. The attack was also the largest in the European Union since the Madrid railway bombings of 2004 (Nossiter, 2019). Then-president, Hollande, declared a state of emergency and resumed the bombing on Syria targeting ISIS sanctuaries. With poor handling of the unemployment rates and war on terror, President Hollande announced not vying for a second term leading to the administration of president Macron in 2017 (Nossiter, 2019). Among the security, changes included the ability to lift the state of emergency that was imposed in 2015.

Additionally, the security measures imposed during Macron's presidency were focused on imposing security with limited judicial oversight. Critics identified that the French government's approach could result in racial profiling based on thin or faulty intelligence (Rubin & Peltier, 2017). All the identified issues would later undercut the objectives of president Marcon to create relations with the minority Muslim and ethnic minorities.

Refugee Crisis

The refugee crisis experienced by the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea has been ongoing years. However, from 2014, the influx of immigrants unexpectedly increased significantly to its highest number since the Second World War (Brice, 2018). Most of the immigrants arriving from war-torn African countries such as Libya and Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Syria. With the peak between 2015 and 2016, president Hollande was responsible for the action by accepting over 24000 Syrian refugees into France. The cause for the great migration was based on two notions, the prospects of financial prosperity; African immigrants mostly expressed the characteristics (Brice, 2018). The second cause was the conflict that was in Syria and Libya. The civil wars forced citizens to migrate to Europe, seeking asylum from the violence in their home countries. However, with the high traffic of refugees, affected states were unable to counter the inflow of terrorists from Syria and Libya. The public accounted for the influx of refugees for facilitating events such as the terrorist attacks of 2015 (Vargh, 2015). In retaliation, the French government imposed new regulations with the primary objective of curbing terrorism. Overall, the changes experienced by France from 2013 have diversified the criminal and justice system.

References

Brice, P. (2018). This is saving refugee lives. The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/03/28/refugee-crisis/.

Callimachi, R. (2015). ISIS Claims Responsibility, Calling Paris Attacks' First of the Storm'. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/world/europe/isis-claims-responsibility-for-paris-attacks-calling-them-miracles.html.

Chrisafis, A. (2015). Front National wins opening round in France's regional elections. the Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/06/front-national-wins-opening-round-in-frances-regional-elections.

Clancy, R. (2013). Unemployment in France hits 14-year high. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/9914644/Unemployment-in-France-hits-14-year-high.html.

Klein, G. (2015). These two reasons explain why the Islamic State attacked France now. The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/11/18/these-two-reasons-explain-why-the-islamic-state-attacked-france-now/.

Nossiter, A. (2019). How ISIS Changed France. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/europe/al-baghdadi-isis-france.html.

Polly, D. (2013). S.&P. Downgrade Deals Blow to French Government. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/09/business/international/standard-poors-downgrades-france.html.

Rubin, A., & Peltier, E. (2017). French Parliament Advances a Sweeping Counterterrorism Bill. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/world/europe/france-terrorism-law.html.

Tidey, A. (2014). France to cut welfare in $63B savings plan. CNBC. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/01/france-to-cut-welfare-in-63b-savings-plan.html.

Vargh, D. (2015). Temporary Migrants or Permanent Immigrants: France's Long "Migrant Crisis" – The Reluctant Internationalists (2013-2017). The Reluctant Internationalists. Retrieved 27 May 2020, from http://www.bbk.ac.uk/reluctantinternationalists/blog/temporary-migrants-or-permanent-immigrants-frances-long-migrant-crisis/.