Paris (AFP)

Incredulous or "dismayed" to see their minister playing the "division" card, unions of magistrates and court clerks reacted sharply on Tuesday to the message of "support" sent to them by Nicole Belloubet in the context of the lawyers' strike.

"Besides that trying to divide in order to rule better, it's ugly", "the support does not assert itself but shows itself. And here we wait": this tweet from the first magistrates' union (USM) summarizes the reactions well to the courier of the Keeper of the Seals, sent back to his own "responsibility" in the exhaustion of Justice, crudely highlighted by the strike of the black dresses.

While lawyers began their seventh week of hard strike against the reform of their autonomous pension plan, the minister wanted to reassure judges, prosecutors and clerks, who are crumbling under the files and struggling to ensure the functioning of the "public service of Justice ".

Several heads of court have complained, in Toulouse or Paris, accusing lawyers of a form of irresponsibility vis-à-vis litigants: extended hearings until the middle of the night, dramatic family disputes postponed to 2021 or the risk of to see dangerous people released after the deadlines have passed.

Monday evening, Nicole Belloubet therefore sent by email a letter - which AFP was able to consult - saying "with warmth", all her "support", her "recognition" and her "unwavering confidence" in the convicts of the rooms and courtrooms, deploring a strike movement which "undermines the functioning of the judicial institution".

"When serenity returns, we will have to overcome this ordeal and reconnect with the lawyers, who are essential to the work of justice," said the Keeper of the Seals.

- "Desperate attempt to divide" -

This way of opposing lawyers and civil servants, as well as a display of support for the latter after months of opposition to its reform of the justice system, have ulcerated magistrates and clerks.

"How does the minister support us? There is no consideration of what we live in everyday life, she does not answer any of the questions raised by the reforms. She says she supports us ... the words are not expensive, "Céline Parisot, president of the Magistrates' Union (USM, majority), told AFP.

"Appalled", the Magistrates' Union (SM, left) denounced "a desperate attempt to divide, feigning compassion for professionals whom government reforms are helping to exhaust every day".

"As for your support and your + unwavering confidence +, they did not appear glaring to us when we brought our opinion of practitioners on the reform of the justice or on that of the ordinance of February 2, 1945 (on the justice of the minors , editor's note), without ever taking it into account ", also directly replied the DM in a letter to the Minister.

More unusual, the National Union of Registrars of France-FO has also stepped up to the plate, to refer the government to its "responsibility" in the general exhaustion - "of reforms in judicial organizations, the fracture is getting worse a little more day with all the judicial actors "- and to say its solidarity with the lawyers.

"NO Madam Minister, this protest movement - which only adds to all the others - did not ignore the expectations of the litigants: on the contrary, it attempts to save the future or give them one" , says this organization, one of the main clerks' unions.

Nicole Belloubet's mail did not fail to react to the National Bar Council (CNB), which represents the 70,000 lawyers in France: "No need to try to divide magistrates / clerks / lawyers: they all suffer from insufficient resources of Justice".

"The + procedural means + which create + judicial disturbances +, that is called the law. To reproach lawyers for applying the law poses a serious difficulty", tweeted Christiane Féral-Schuhl, the president of the CNB.

The lawyers agreed last Friday to resume technical discussions with the ministry, without any notable progress for the moment. And most of the bars voted to renew the movement until early March.

© 2020 AFP