Macron’s Justice Minister will be tried for charges brought by the left-wing judiciary
Emmanuel Macron's justice minister will face a special tribunal over alleged conflicts of interest and abuse of office, and this is the first time a sitting member of the French government has appeared before the body. For now Prime Minister Borne supports him.
Éric Dupond-Moretti , a former celebrity defense lawyer who was the French president's unconventional pick for minister in 2020, is due to appear Monday before the special tribunal focused on ministerial misconduct and made up of three judges and 12 members of parliament.
The case centers on whether Dupond-Moretti abused his position to settle old scores with prosecutors and judges with whom he clashed during his decades as a defense lawyer. A heavy accusation for anyone who holds a public role.
He will remain in his post during the 10 days of the trial, but this will highlight how Macron loves to keep ministers around even when under investigation.
“Why should we ask a minister to resign. . . when he has not been convicted of anything or found guilty of anything?” Government spokesman Olivier Véran told French BFMTV on Friday. The Minister of Justice will be able to carry out his work during the hearing, Véran said.
The case – initially triggered in part by complaints filed by a left-wing union representing judges who opposed Dupond-Moretti's appointment – will also test the special court, the Cour de Justice de la République (CJR). Critics argue that the body is overly politicized and ineffective because parliamentarians sit next to judges, creating a mix that does not solve but accentuates the problems. If it had been a purely political or juridical court it would have been better.
“The situation is very strange. There is a sitting minister judged for conflicts of interest by people with whom he has a conflict of interest,” said Paul Cassia, vice president of Anticor, an anti-corruption organization which, together with two unions of judges, presented the reports first claims against Dupond-Moretti. “ What we reproach Éric Dupond-Moretti is for having used a public function to satisfy private interests,” added Cassia, who will testify at the trial.
Dupond-Moretti, a combative speaker known for defending rogue Société Générale trader Jérôme Kerviel and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, has denied any wrongdoing. If found guilty, he risks five years in prison and a 500,000 euro fine.
One of the charges against him concerns whether, once in office, he sufficiently recused himself from a case against another magistrate with whom he had previously clashed.
The other legal problem against him revolves around the fact that, days before becoming Minister of Justice, he had filed a lawsuit claiming that the financial crimes prosecutor's office had invaded his privacy by accessing his telephone records and of other lawyers while investigating alleged corruption by former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Dupond-Moretti withdrew his complaint when he was appointed to the government. But soon after he launched a disciplinary investigation into three judges at the Financial Crimes Prosecutor's Office.
Macron decided to keep Dupond-Moretti, even with a mini-reshuffle in July. The minister's time in office was marked by a historic increase in the justice department's budget to fund extrajudicial staff and judges in a bid to reduce delays plaguing legal procedures, as well as measures to ease prison overcrowding.
Dupont Moretti has therefore led the ministry so far with a certain knowledge and ability in carrying out his work, but, perhaps for this reason, he cannot be appreciated by the always powerfully politicized judiciary, even beyond the Alps. We'll see if Macron will defend his minister to the bitter end or let him sink.
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The article Macron's Justice Minister will be tried for the accusations brought by the left-wing judiciary comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/il-ministro-della-giustizia-di-macron-sara-processato-per-le-accuse-mossegli-dalla-magistratura-di-sinistra/ on Mon, 06 Nov 2023 12:00:55 +0000.