He comforted the French Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Morettiand the president, Emmanuel Macron. Republic Court of Justice (CJR) declared the government responsible for the administration of justice, which has been on trial for a while in recent weeks, innocent. conflict of interest situation. A decision announced this Wednesday afternoon strengthens criticism of the CJR but prevents the centrist Administration from reshaping. This special court, composed of three judges of the Supreme Court (the equivalent of the Supreme Court) and 12 deputies, is responsible for prosecuting ministers for crimes committed in the course of their duties. And in France he has a reputation for lenient judgments.
After 10 hearings An unprecedented case in the neighboring country The court, where an active Minister of Justice was placed on the bench for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic, acquitted him. of accused facts Dupond-Moretti there was and there was a situation conflict of interestbut what He had no intention of committing this crime. In particular, the minister was accused of encouraging a series of administrative investigations against four judges he faced while working as a lawyer in the summer of 2020.
“Over the last few years, too many people assumed that this case would be resolved without justice being served,” Jacqueline Laffont, the attorney representing Dupond-Moretti, said as she left the courtroom. “You will be able to continue to implement your action within the government team“said the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne. Although this sentence averts a minor political crisis, the Government is awaiting another trial: that of Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt, who has been on trial since Monday for alleged nepotism.
A perfect media minister and lawyer
The minister defended his innocence very harshly during this process. He assured that it was on the advice of his administration that he initiated these investigations against the judges. A version that the court accepted in its controversial decision. In the decision, CJR — consisted of: Four MPs are from Macron’s party, four are from the Republican right.Two parties from the left, one from the conservative UDI and one from the regionalist party, argue that the leader sins by lack of experience in positions of government responsibility.
Dupond-Moretti before being appointed Minister of Justice in July 2020 a star lawyer France. He rose to fame with his Hollywood style and by defending Abdelkader Merah, brother of jihadist Mohamed Merah, or Karim Benzema in the case of luxury prostitute Zahia, among other media cases. In addition to his skill as an orator, bad relations with judges.
In particular, controversial administrative investigations in the summer of 2020 affected Judge Edouard Levrault, who was investigating Russian billionaire Dmitri Rybolovlev (the owner of the AS Monaco football team and for whom Dupond-Moretti served as legal advisor). They also implicated three members of the national financial prosecutor’s office. They investigated the current Minister of Justice within the framework of the judicial phone tapping case in which the former president was convicted. Nicolas Sarkozy and his lawyer Thierry Herzog, both close to the Justice Minister.
CJR, a court of inquiry
“It’s time restoring harmony in the judicial family“, claimed lawyer Laffont. This is a wish that is more than optimistic. Not only were there strange moments throughout this process – for example, when Chief Prosecutor Rémy Heitz took the reins of the prosecutor’s office and asked for a one-year prison sentence for his hierarchical superior. But also the French It will also leave a mark on justice.
“When there is a decision of the law that is not understood, we must look for the reason. In this case, political reasons seem obvious to us“, criticized Jérôme Karsenti, the lawyer of the Anticor association, known for its fight against corruption. “The case revealed Dupond-Moretti’s guilt. But the majority of the parliamentary judges, the Macronists and the Republicans (right), decided to acquit him!”, the parliamentary group France Insoumise condemned on the X social network.
This decision actually revived the debate about the CJR that was repeated in 1993. Because the vast majority of its members are parliamentarians rather than professional judges, a political class that is protected by the stigma of collusion and itself. “It serves not to ensure justice, but to calm the political-judicial storm“François Colcombet, former deputy of the Socialist Party and former member of this court, was recognized last year in his statement to the progressive newspaper Liberation.
The decisions of this court have often been controversial. For example, with the acquittal of the former prime minister. Edouard Balladur For the Karachi case or the former Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde For and for the Tapie case works His collaborators were indeed condemned by ordinary justice. Same thing during the 2017 presidential campaign Macron promises to abolish CJR. But six years later, that promise seems forgotten at the bottom of a drawer in the Elysée. And now this controversial court has saved the president from a setback.