About 200 lawyers demonstrated in front of the Aix-en-Provence Assize Court on Wednesday -

NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

  • Last week, a lawyer was expelled by police during a hearing in Aix-en-Provence, on the order of a magistrate.

  • In protest, 200 lawyers gathered in front of the Aix-en-Provence Assize Court on Wednesday.

  • This episode would reflect tensions and mistrust of lawyers, according to the demonstrators.

The square in front of the Aix-en-Provence Assize Court fills up in the blink of an eye.

Montpellier, Tarascon, Avignon… Nearly 200 lawyers responded to the call for demonstrations on Wednesday, a week after the incident which shook the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor's office.

Last Thursday, in full hearing, a lawyer from the Nice office, Me Paul Sollacaro, son of the president of Ajaccio Antoine Sollacaro, assassinated in 2012 in Corsica, was expelled during the trial of 11 defendants in a case of trafficking in drug.

His client having tested positive for Covid-19, the lawyer registered with the Nice bar had requested the disjunction of his case.

A request immediately rejected by the presiding judge, who also objected to the defendant appearing in court.

After lively exchanges between the lawyer and the magistrate, the president had requested the intervention of the police to get Me Sollacaro out.

In solidarity, all the other lawyers present had also deserted the court.

"Dissent is growing"

“What happened last week is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Philippe Bruzzo, president of Aix en Provence.

I find that there is a tension, and not only in the Aix-en-Provence parquet floor.

Already, because there are a lot of lawyers, which increases the possible number of difficulties.

And there are more difficulties with the magistrates, who perhaps have less means.

Dissensions are growing between the body of magistrates and the profession of lawyers.

It is not necessarily significant.

But it is latent.

"

"The health crisis does not help matters, said Me Philippe Klein, deputy mayor of Aix-en-Provence.

With the delay taken, some lawyers do not plead, and magistrates have taken a liking to hearings without pleading.

"In Aix-en-Provence, we were two and a half years behind in the bindings", notes Me Josiane Chaillol.

"We can no longer plead what we want as we want, regrets Me Philippe Ramon, President of Tarascon.

This case is a serious violation of the rights of the defense.

The lawyer remains an obstacle to going around in circles ... "

"We feel a certain discomfort"

An observation shared by Me Paul Sollacaro, present during this mobilization.

“Since last week, I have been inundated with messages of support.

We feel a certain unease.

It's complicated for us to work at the moment.

We feel a certain weariness, a certain tension, a lack of consideration.

There is a feeling of mistrust of the function of a lawyer.

"

And to confide: "A week after the facts, I am still as recovered, entrusts Me Paul Sollacaro.

I lodged a complaint against what can be called a magistrate.

I do not consider him as a magistrate but as an aggressor.

I learned yesterday that the General Inspectorate of Justice will be seized, and I am waiting to see what it will conclude… ”This Tuesday, during questions to the government, the government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced the imminent seizure of the General Inspectorate of Justice on this file, the conclusions of which would be known "in a fortnight at the latest".

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  • Aix en Provence

  • Nice

  • Demonstration

  • Lawyer