Éric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justice, seems this Monday, November 6, earlier than the Court docket of Justice of the Republic (CJR), for “unlawful taking of pursuits”. A primary below the 5ᵉ République.
It is a first. A present Minister of Justice must clarify himself earlier than a courtroom competent to guage crimes and misdemeanors dedicated by members of the federal government within the efficiency of their duties.
A movement of no confidence
Since his appointment to the Place Vendôme on July 6, 2020, Eric Dupond-Moretti has continued to generate waves of protest within the judicial world. Following demonstrations and the vote of no-confidence of their minister, the 2 major unions – the Union Syndicale des Magistrats (USM) and the Syndicat de la Magistrature (SM) – have lodged a criticism with the French Court docket of Justice towards Eric Dupond-Moretti.
In a press launch, the magistrates clarify: “Can a Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, and former lawyer, request pre-disciplinary proceedings towards magistrates who’ve been concerned in instances regarding him or his former shoppers?
The wiretapping affair
To know this, it’s good to keep in mind that lawyer Dupond-Moretti was the goal of an investigation by the French Nationwide Monetary Prosecutor’s Workplace (PNF) into the Nicolas Sarkozy wiretapping case. Me Dupond-Moretti filed a criticism on the time. As soon as appointed to the Place Vendôme, he withdrew his criticism. Nonetheless, when he turned Minister of Justice, Dupond-Moretti referred the matter to the Inspectorate Normal of Justice (IGJ) to analyze the doable misconduct of three named PNF magistrates who had been engaged on the Sarkozy case and had due to this fact examined his phone information (the well-known fadettes).
The Minister of Justice thus turned each choose and celebration, in line with the magistrates.
The magistrates’ unions alerted the President of the Republic, expressed their anger and filed a criticism towards their Minister. “Eric Dupond-Moretti, as a lawyer, needed to punish magistrates who had handled instances regarding certainly one of his shoppers (the Levrault case) or regarding himself and people near him (the PNF case), write the USM and the SM…. With this criticism, we’re in search of before everything to acquire respect for the legislation”.
“An establishment of false asses
Since his appointment to the Place Vendôme on July 6, 2020, Eric Dupond-Moretti has been giving magistrates a tough time. This famend prison lawyer, French champion of acquittals at assizes, has by no means made a secret of his actual repulsion for the judiciary, “an establishment of faux-culs, a small world of self-importance and irresponsibility”, he would say. Magistrates, in flip, describe Dupond-Moretti as a “courtroom terrorist”. In brief, a real love affair between those that choose and the person who (with expertise) defends delinquents and criminals.
“Traces of cocaine”
This aversion to magistrates might date again to 1993, when as a younger lawyer he was concerned in a murky cocaine affair, traces of which have been present in his automobile. This led to a search and police custody. He didn’t prefer it.
Nonetheless, “the Fats Man”, as he’s pleasant nicknamed by his colleagues, continued his profession to turn out to be one of many legendary tenors of the bar.
His appointment as Keeper of the Seals was seen by magistrates as a provocation on the a part of the President of the Republic. “Everyone seems to be ready for him on the fringe of the woods with a shotgun”, stated one Justice of the Peace.
Applauded by inmates
It’s true that the brand-new Minister of Justice, and nice hunter earlier than the Everlasting, has completed nothing to calm issues down. His first official go to was to Fresnes jail, the place he was warmly applauded by the inmates. What a shock!
However above all, the magistrates noticed two choices by the Minister of Justice as an actual affront: the opening of an administrative investigation towards three magistrates from the Nationwide Monetary Prosecutor’s Workplace (PNF) and the appointment of a prison lawyer, Nathalie Roret, to go the distinguished École Nationale de la Magistrature (ENM) in Bordeaux, reasonably than a Justice of the Peace as has been the case since its creation in 1958. It’s true that, when he was nonetheless a lawyer, Dupond-Moretti advocated abolishing the ENM and changing it with a college that might prepare each attorneys and magistrates.
The Minister of Justice shall be on trial from November 6 to 17, 2023, however will stay at his put up. Elisabeth Borne introduced that the Minister of Justice would go away the federal government if convicted.
Le procès d’Eric Dupond-Moretti devant la cour de justice de la République s’ouvre demain. Et il s’y jouera bien plus que le devenir du Garde des Sceaux…
➡️ Explications avec @LVigogne : https://t.co/3u6hhZqkYO#le69Inter pic.twitter.com/MTGu8qFcY9— France Inter (@franceinter) November 5, 2023
Query : À votre avis, Eric Dupond-Moretti mis en examen et jugé pour conflits d’intérêts : a-t-il encore sa place au gouvernement ? #DupontMoretti pic.twitter.com/rPuXTT8cjs
— prune.jc (@JcPrune) November 5, 2023
