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[PARIS, 6 December 2006] - France's lower house of Parliament approved legislation Tuesday to toughen punishments against juvenile delinquents — a bid to prevent more of the violence that has wracked the country's poor neighbourhoods over the past year. The National Assembly approved the Bill 340-163 in a first reading. The Bill must be must be examined by the upper house of Parliament, the Senate, in January. The Bill was backed by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, now a leading presidential candidate who long has pushed for tougher law enforcement in France. It is seen as a sign of the direction in which the conservative Sarkozy would take France if he succeeds in his bid for the presidency next year. The issue of youth crime gained urgency during three weeks of rioting in 2005 in poor, neglected suburbs that are home to many minorities. Scattered violence continues. Lawmakers from Sarkozy's conservative UMP party — which dominates Parliament — were the sole supporters of the legislation. France's left voted against it, while most lawmakers in the centre-right UDF party abstained. The Bill would toughen punishment for youth offenders as young as 13 and allow judges to treat 16- to 18-year-olds who commit certain serious crimes more like adult offenders. As things stand, suspects from the 16-18 age group usually see their sentences cut in half because they are minors. The new legislation would allow courts not to apply that measure. The Bill's toughest points have been removed, however, amid fears they were unconstitutional. But Sarkozy said last week that he would immediately put the scrapped points of the legislation — including proposed minimum sentences for repeat offenders — up for a vote if elected president. The Assembly's debate on the Bill lasted two days longer than expected, with the Socialists fighting a Bill that lawmaker Jean-Pierre Blazy described as "useless, confusing and dangerous." Further information