by TChris

The United States, of course, isn’t the only country with a criminal justice system that leads to wrongful convictions. When the system breaks down in France, at least the government has the good grace to apologize.

A French appeals court today overturned the conviction of six people accused of participating in a pedophilia ring in northern France five years ago, unraveling one of the most mismanaged cases in French judicial history and leaving the nation asking how the court system could have gone so awry.

"I apologize to the acquitted and their families," the French justice minister, Pascal Clément, said at a press conference after the appeal verdict was announced in Paris. He ordered investigations of the police, judiciary and social services involved in the case and asked for a report by February.

The apology comes too late for a seventh innocent man, who committed suicide in prison. The chief prosecutor asked the appellate court to acquit the six remaining defendants and demanded an investigation to determine responsibility for the wrongful convictions.