Justice "must be removed from the deleterious doubt", born after the words of the former head of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office saying that he had been "pressured" during the investigation into the Fillon case, estimates the Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet in Le Journal du Dimanche . "The words of the former financial prosecutor have, rightly or wrongly, distilled doubt about the independence and impartiality of justice in the conduct of this case," said the Keeper of the Seals.
The ex-national financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette, retired for a year, was moved on June 10 before a parliamentary commission of the “very close control” that would have exercised the general prosecutor's office, its direct supervisory authority, in the conduct of the investigations launched in the midst of the 2017 presidential campaign. On Friday, she clarified that the pressures mentioned were "not about the facts alleged against François Fillon or the merits of the prosecutions", but "were purely procedural" . "Mr. Fillon was not charged at the request or under pressure from the executive," she insisted.
Checks
But his first statements sparked an avalanche of politicians criticizing an instrumentalization of justice in this highly sensitive affair. Emmanuel Macron asked the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) for an opinion to "verify that the National Financial Prosecutor's Office carried out in all serenity, without pressure" from the executive, its investigation into the Fillon spouses.
"The CSM is, under the terms of the Constitution, the body which assists the President of the Republic to guarantee the independence of the judiciary", notes the Minister. "He will be able to assess whether the hierarchical power of the Attorney General of Paris, which results from the organization of our" French public prosecutor's office "and cannot be challenged in itself, was exercised under conditions likely to prejudice the independence of the judiciary, ”she explains.
The CSM will be able “to hear all the protagonists”, underlines Nicole Belloubet, who does not exclude from carrying out a judicial inspection, if the Council “considers it necessary”. Asked about the independence of the prosecution, Nicole Belloubet said she was "in favor" of the prosecutors being appointed on the assent of the CSM, like the judges. Emmanuel Macron had announced a reform in this sense, but it has been postponed indefinitely.
Justice
Macron refers to the Superior Council of the Magistrature to "remove the doubt" on possible political pressures in the Fillon case
Society
Strong reactions after the statements of an ex-prosecutor on hierarchical "pressures" in the Fillon case
- Justice
- Prosecutor
- Parquet
- Magistrate
- Nicole Belloubet
- François Fillon