The battle against vandalism and civic irresponsibility:
the Council encourages offenders to pay an “honourable” fine
The council has introduced innovative measures to combat anti-social behaviour. Offenders guilty of damage or defacement of property in the town, in particular graffiti, damage to street benches and gardens or fly tipping may request exemption from legal proceedings by the Mayor. The exemption is granted on the condition that they pay a fine to the town.
Antibes Juan-les-Pins is the first town in the department to adopt this innovative measure, which is part of its policy of prevention of damage to important urban heritage. Inspired by the notion of legal mediation, this measure is seen as a new weapon in legal proceedings and is classed as a “third legal option”, being a middle road between court action and the dismissal of a case without legal action.
Many benefits for the town
The Mayor can use this new measure to give people who have defaced public property the choice of paying their debt to the town without being involved in legal proceedings.
The advantages are two-fold for the council. In the first instance, financial reparation is more rapid. In the second, the measure is a deterrent, in particular of defacing with graffiti, and the payment of fines discourages anti-social behaviour (see table of fines for different actions). To ensure that the new measure is effective, Jean Leonetti, Mayor and Member of Parliament, assures us that if the offender does not pay the fine then the legal system intervenes and there are more serious consequences for that person.
What are the offences concerned?
The offences are those normally dealt with by Municipal Police officers that incur a cost (to the town): graffiti, vandalism of public property, fly tipping, car dumping and dog fouling on public streets.
In Antibes, there are fifty such offences per year.
With these new measures, after an offender has been charged with one of the above offences by a Municipal Police officer, the Mayor contacts him within a month offering him the possibility of settling his debt and thereby avoiding a court appearance before a judge.
The offender must give his response within 15 days. Whether he agrees to settle or not, the file is then transmitted to the Public Prosecutor’s office for validation. From a legal point of view, this procedure lessens the workload of courts involved. Antibes Juan-les-Pins is the first town in the department to instigate this new measure that is to be found in Law 2006 on Equality of choice, that determined the amount to be charged for the most common offences. The fines below were calculated at market price levels and clearly illustrate the deterrent that the Mayor wished them to pose.
The cost of anti-social behaviour
€50 including taxes per metre
fencing
€87 including taxes per 10 square metres (€1.20/square metre + €15/2 square metres 20 mins)
work by the anti-tagging brigade
€166 including taxes
a round police sign
€211 including taxes
a sign
€217.17 including taxes
a bench
€250 excluding taxes
fly tipping up to 2 square metres
€300 including taxes
damage to buildings
€449.70 including taxes
a dog dirt bag distributor
