Decryption. Le Scouarnec Affair: What is the certificate of good repute required for doctors?

If child sex offender surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec had had to prove before each hiring that he had not been convicted of a sexual offense, could dozens of victims have been avoided? This is the opinion of child protection associations, which are demanding a "certificate of good repute" for doctors.

For child protection associations, the trial of Joël Le Scouarnec , who has been on trial since the end of February before the Morbihan criminal court for rape and sexual assault on 299 victims , has highlighted the importance of establishing such a system. The overwhelming majority of victims were minor patients, treated in the hospitals and clinics where the former surgeon worked.

The silence of politicians

Sentenced to a four-month suspended prison sentence in late 2005 for possession of child pornography, the doctor continued to practice legally, even obtaining a permanent position at the hospital in Quimperlé (Finistère) the following year. Joël Le Scouarnec then registered without incident with the Charente-Maritime Medical Association in 2008, to practice at the hospital in Jonzac, where his latest victims were recorded.

On Monday morning, a group of victims of child molestation will demonstrate in Vannes, as the Morbihan Criminal Court examines this series of institutional failures. Their goal is to encourage politicians and the medical profession to learn lessons from the Le Scouarnec affair .

"Property monitoring," already in place in sports and early childhood, is a "key tool in the system for preventing and combating violence against children," emphasizes Joëlle Sicamois, director of the Fondation pour l'enfance. "It's inexpensive and can save a lot of children," assures Martine Brousse, president of the association La Voix de l'Enfant.

Launched in September 2024 in six departments, the "honourability" platform – which strengthens the checks on the criminal records of those working in the early childhood sector – has thus "made it possible to stop more than 400 people who, ultimately, were not suitable to work with minors," insists Joëlle Sicamois.

This system, which is becoming more widespread, requires professionals and volunteers working in childcare to provide their employer with a "certificate of good repute" upon hiring and at regular intervals thereafter. The document, issued via this online platform, guarantees that the person has no convictions on their criminal record or on the automated criminal register of perpetrators of sexual and violent offenses (Fijais) that would prevent them from working with minors.

The Order of Physicians does not really pronounce itself

What do those most directly affected think? Asked about the certificate of good repute, the National Council of the Order of Physicians (Cnom), a civil party in the Vannes trial, points out that, at present, it is not able to question the Fijais about a practitioner's criminal record. The Cnom also indicates that its consultation of bulletin number 2 of the criminal record – which brings together almost all of an individual's judicial convictions and administrative sanctions – "remains limited to the registration of a doctor or the initiation of disciplinary proceedings."

"For several years, the Cnom has been asking to be able to consult, within a strictly defined framework," these two files "as soon as it is notified or alerted to a worrying situation," the Order states. Without explicitly commenting on the certificate of honorability, it calls for a simple system that "must apply to all doctors, regardless of their mode of practice, whether private, salaried or mixed." "We are working with (Minister of Justice) Gérald Darmanin extensively to allow for monitoring of the honorability of health professionals by the Order's councils," Health Minister Yannick Neuder told the National Assembly at the beginning of May, without specifying at this stage the modalities envisaged.