How far will the mistrust of the magistrates’ unions towards Eric Dupond-Moretti take them? In a letter sent on April 21 to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the Commission and in charge of Transparency and Values, they question “objective impartiality” of the European Commissioner for Justice, the Belgian Didier Reynders, in his ability to examine “serious attacks on the independence of French justice” that they denounce. These suspicions are based on “A certain closeness between Mr. [Nicolas] Sarkozy or his relatives, on the one hand, and Mr. Reynders or members of his party [le Mouvement réformateur ], on the other hand “is it specified in this letter that The world and lire.
While the Minister of Justice is kept in office despite an indictment and a referral to the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) for “illegal taking of interests”, an unprecedented situation under the Ve Republic, dialogue with the unions that have filed a complaint against him remains difficult. For two years, the Union of Judges (USM) and the Union of Judges (SM), the two most representative organizations of the profession, have constantly denounced the attacks on the independence of the judiciary committed by Mr. Dupond-Moretti.
When the two unions were filing a complaint with the Court of Justice of the Republic, they sent two letters in October and November 2020 to Didier Reynders to draw his attention to the predisciplinary procedures initiated by the Keeper of the Seals with regard to magistrates with whom he had had disputes when he was a lawyer. “We take good note of the concerns you express”, the European Commissioner wrote to them on February 22, 2021 in a polite response. He told them that the Brussels Commission “will follow carefully” the procedure before the CJR as well as the disciplinary inquiries against magistrates. A response deemed unsatisfactory by the leaders of the two unions, who leave it at that.
Suspicion of collusion
A year later, in April, they decided to relaunch the European Commission by speaking directly to its president. This letter, signed by Kim Reuflet and Céline Parisot, respectively presidents of the SM and the USM, adds to the previous grievances new elements revealing “the structural weaknesses of the guarantees of judicial independence in France”. They refer in particular to the speech by Mr Dupond-Moretti, revealed by The world, to have three judges, including the investigating judge Serge Tournaire, removed from the annual list of appointments proposed by the ministry’s services at the start of 2022.
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