- Ségolène Royal says that the government plans to end her duties as pole ambassador.
- The former minister refers to a "dismissal".
- In reality, his position does not depend on the classic rules of the public service.
The penguins will have to find a new contact. In a message she published Tuesday on her Facebook page, Ségolène Royal indicates that the government plans to end her function as ambassador of the poles. She held this position - on a voluntary basis - since July 2017.
The executive, which could act his departure via a decree during the Council of Ministers on January 24, accuses him of having failed in his duty of reserve by repeatedly criticizing the policy of Emmanuel Macron. In her Facebook message, the former minister spoke of a "dismissal (...) without prior interview". But is she right?
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By using the term "dismissal", Ségolène Royal places itself a priori in the "classic" framework of the state civil service. A permanent civil servant can indeed be dismissed, in particular for "professional insufficiency". Under these conditions, "the administration must inform the civil servant that it can, if it wishes it, consult its individual file or the documents on which it is based to envisage its dismissal", indicates the official site of the State. There is therefore no obligation of prior maintenance, unless Ségolène Royal had been a contract employee of the public service (with a contract of limited duration), which is not the case.
The real problem is elsewhere. In reality, the duties held by the former minister are not an ordinary job in the public service. It is a "higher job" defined by the law of January 11, 1984: there are therefore ambassadors, but also directors of central administration, prefects, rectors of academies, or even interministerial delegates. However, these jobs are subject to a special regime: a 1985 decree specifies that they are "left to the decision of the government with regard to both the appointment and the separation from office".
"The government did not even have to justify its decision"
In other words, the government is free to appoint and dismiss people occupying these particular positions as it sees fit, without having to follow standard dismissal procedures. A jurisprudence of the Council of State of June 17, 1992 specifies even that the government can put an end to the higher jobs “at any time”, “even in the absence of fault likely to justify a disciplinary sanction”. Emmanuel Macron had also planned to make extensive use of this right after his election, in order to have a senior administration "under tension", according to him, which is in line with his political project. In reality, the head of state has made fewer changes in this area than his predecessors at the Elysee.
In summary, Ségolène Royal was therefore wrong to speak of "dismissal", which is subject to strict rules, unlike "senior jobs", which depend on the good will of the executive. "Beyond the question of the duty of reserve, the government did not even have to specifically motivate its decision, supports Benjamin Daniel Ingelaere, lawyer in Paris and specialist in public law. Her one and only obligation is the possibility left to Ségolène Royal to take cognizance of her file ”, which is reminded to her in the famous letter revealed by the former presidential candidate.
For Ségolène Royal, the possibilities of contesting this decision, if she wishes, are therefore very slim. "Its only recourse is the referral in first and last resort to the Council of State" explains Benjamin Daniel Ingelaere. It is impossible, for example, to enter the industrial tribunal as in the case of a “classic” dismissal. Ségolène Royal, she concluded her message by saying "take note" of the situation.
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