The French Minister of Justice in the hot seat.

The public prosecutor requested, Tuesday, May 10, the referral to the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) of the former lawyer and current Keeper of the Seals Éric Dupond-Moretti, suspected of "illegal taking of interests" within the framework of his duties, according to a press release from the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation and from the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Justice of the Republic.

The Minister of Justice is suspected of having taken advantage of his current position in government to settle scores with magistrates with whom he had had trouble when he was a lawyer in two cases.

According to a press release from the general prosecutor's office at the Court of Cassation, the public prosecutor judged that there were "sufficient charges" against the minister to send him to trial.

"On May 9, 2022, the public prosecutor's office of the CJR took requisitions for the dismissal of Mr. Dupond-Moretti before the Court of Justice of the Republic, for acts of illegal taking of interest committed in Paris, on July 31 and September 18, 2020, while he was a member of the government”, can we read.

The public prosecutor, it is specified, considers that there are "sufficient charges against the latter".

The Keeper of the Seals, in office since July 2020, had been indicted in this case since July 2021.

According to the document, the facts referred to are first of all "the referral to the General Inspectorate of Justice by the Minister on July 31, 2020, for the purposes of an administrative investigation against three magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor's Office at the following an investigation by this prosecutor's office and which had given rise to a complaint from Mr. Dupond-Moretti", specifies the press release.

Secondly, there is "the referral to the General Inspectorate of Justice by the Minister on September 18, 2020, for the purposes of an administrative investigation against an investigating judge previously in office in Monaco ".

With AFP & Reuters

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