On Monday, 21 September 2026, a special commission responsible for reviewing a proposed "comprehensive" law against sexual violence approved the creation of a specialized judicial system to handle cases involving sexual violence, sexism, and violence within families. During their meeting, lawmakers also passed an amendment introduced by the LFI party, which seeks to remove rape cases from the jurisdiction of departmental criminal courts and assign them to the assizes, a higher court that includes a jury of citizens. Departmental criminal courts were established in 2019 as an experimental measure and became permanent in 2023. These courts consist solely of professional judges, unlike the assizes, which include a jury of ordinary citizens. They were created to streamline the judicial process for certain crimes by reducing the time it takes to reach a trial. Currently, these courts handle 85% of rape cases. Removing sexual crimes from their jurisdiction could potentially reduce their workload by 80 to 90%, according to Erwan Balanant from Les Démocrates. During the discussion, deputies also approved an amendment proposed by Gabrielle Cathala from La France insoumise, which removes sexual crimes from the jurisdiction of departmental criminal courts. Céline Thiébault-Martinez, the general rapporteur of the bill, defended the idea of specialized assize courts, calling it "one of the essential elements of the bill." She pointed out that departmental criminal courts cannot impose sentences longer than 20 years and cannot take into account aggravating circumstances. Sarah Legrain from La France insoumise argued that these courts risk downplaying the seriousness of rape by making it a "sub-crime." She emphasized that "rape is defined as a crime" and highlighted the importance of assize trials. Marie-Charlotte Garin, another rapporteur, cited Spain as an example, noting that specialized courts there led to a 28% increase in complaints, twice as many convictions, and half as many femicides compared to France. The approval of these amendments, which establish specialized courts to handle cases of sexual, sexist, and intrafamily violence, is not yet final. After the special commission's discussion this week, deputies will review the bill in the parliamentary chamber starting on Thursday, 1 October. They may choose to confirm or modify the decisions made in the commission.