Jana Nel

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The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare (Season 1, Episodes 1-4)

1. Brief overview of the Outreau Affair Documentary on Netflix.
The documentary covers the infamous Outreau case. France has an inquisitorial procedure for their
mode of investigation, which is a system of criminal procedure that requires extensive pre-trial
investigation and in which an examining magistrate is a key player. This case concerned accusations of
child sexual abuse made by both adults and children. 13 of 17 defendants were acquitted and found
innocent after suffering media abuse during the 4-year trial.1 Inquiries into the miscarriage of justice
uncovered multiple issues relating to bad practices by the examining officer.
2. Criminal Procedural issues relating to the Outreau Affair: Examining Officer’s role.
The primary issue in the case was the bad practice of the examining officer, who is crucial within the
inquisitorial system of French law. The examining officers receives cases from public prosecutors and their
duty is to investigate and compile a dossier of evidence to determine whether there is sufficient evidence
for the case to go to a trial court.2 Their objective is to compile a balanced dossier with exculpatory and
incriminating evidence. However, the parliamentary inquiry found that he was building a case instead of
conducting an impartial investigation.3 Furthermore, the defense found him nearly impossible to co-
operate with as he ignored all their requests. It was alleged in the inquiry that he ignored evidence contrary
to the initial investigation and was severely manipulated and increasingly relied upon a specific
defendant’s testimony to build his case, which was perceived negatively by the public as him favoring her
and trusting statements blindly, regardless of evidence. The children’s statements (some were between 2
and 5 years old) were important but lost their credibility when they were found as unreliable witnesses
when conflicting evidence surfaced. The failure of the trial was mostly caused by the inexperience and bias
of the examining officer in charge.
3. Concluding remarks and outcome.
A clear disadvantage of the inquisitorial procedure in criminal justice is inexperience or bad
conduct by the examining officer that may result in serious miscarriages of justice. The report following
Outreau recommended examining officers be assisted during first posts and serious charges.4 The
President also nominated a commission to review French Criminal Procedure. Now, public prosecutors

1
Anonymous “The Outreau case: A French Nightmare” (2024) Netflix Website
https://www.netflix.com/search?q=putreau&jbv=81368117 (accessed 13 May 2024).
2
C Theolopoulos, Z Hlophe, C Marumoagae, K Naidoo, J Omar, S Singh, A Steynberg, B Tshehla & A Van Der Merwe Criminal
Procedure in South Africa (2019) 6.
3
J Hodgson “The Future of Adversarial Criminal Justice in 21st Century Britain” (2010) 35 UNC 319 346.
4
J Hodgson (2010) UNC 346.
Jana Nel
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act as overseers and examining officers act only in a judicial manner, which resembles the accusatorial
procedure, where judges are less active in court proceedings.5 I agree with the criticisms of the examining
officer’s role in the inquisitorial procedure mentioned in the documentary and condone the solution
France adopted that includes accusatorial features. The function of the examining officer is important, and
their impartiality while collecting evidence is significant for the success of an inquisitorial system.

Bibliography:
Books
C Theolopoulos, Z Hlophe, C Marumoagae, K Naidoo, J Omar, S Singh, A Steynberg, B Tshehla & A Van Der
Merwe Criminal Procedure in South Africa (2019), Cape Town: Oxford, University Press.
Internet sources
Anonymous “The Outreau case: A French Nightmare” (2024) Netflix Website
https://www.netflix.com/search?q=putreau&jbv=81368117
Journal articles
J Hodgson “The Future of Adversarial Criminal Justice in 21st Century Britain” (2010) 35 North Carolina
Journal of International Law 319-346.

5
J Hodgson (2010) UNC 346.