Paris (AFP)
Magistrates' unions on Wednesday expressed their "dismay" and "amazement" after the Duck Chained disclosure of a note that the Chancellery would consider maintaining or removing judicial positions based on LREM's election results.
According to the excerpt of this "confidential" note published by the satirical weekly, the Ministry of Justice has requested "a meeting" with one of the Prime Minister's advisers and "the municipal election experts" of the Republic in motion to know the potential cities "electoral targets" and thus "postpone the announcements" of the reform of the judicial map.
The abolition of the function of investigating judge in certain jurisdictions is permitted by the law reform of the law promulgated in March, when there are several courts in a department.
"Consterned", the USM (Union syndicale des magistrats, majority) denounced in a statement "the control of the political organization of justice, totally unacceptable in a democracy worthy of the name", and pounded a "scandalous instrumentalisation of the reform of Justice for electoral purposes ".
The USM therefore "demands" that all deletion projects be subject to a detailed argument, in full transparency and in consultation with local justice actors ".
The Syndicate of the Judiciary (SM, listed on the left) expressed his "amazement" at this new organization conducted "on the sly and in defiance of the independence of justice" and called in an open letter explanations to the guard Nicole Belloubet seals.
Invited Wednesday morning of Sud Radio, the Minister did not deny the existence of this note and defended any "favoritism".
"When we have to put in place a reform, (?) Obviously it must be done on the basis of objective criteria, but any reform must be accepted and it must be accepted and in this case it is obvious that we also rely on elected officials to explain, to understand, this is what this means (this note), "said Ms. Belloubet.
"With what we discover (...), it is the end of the myth of the exemplary Republic, definitely replaced by the Republic of the friends, the French will have courts according to whether they vote well or badly", reacted with AFP Pierre Jouvet, in charge of elections to the Socialist Party (PS).
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