He is accused of having taken advantage of his position to settle scores. Eric Dupond-Moretti, indicted since July 2021 for “illegal taking of interests”, is referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), announced his lawyers, Monday, October 3. This is a first for a Minister of Justice in office. His advices immediately lodged an appeal in cassation, which suspends this referral to justice.
At the heart of the case are two administrative investigations ordered by Eric Dupond-Moretti, one targeting three magistrates from the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), the other a ex-investigating judge seconded to Monaco, Edouard Levrault. Red dresses with which the former criminal lawyer had had trouble when he was a lawyer. If these procedures had been initiated under his predecessor in Justice, Nicole Belloubet, the magistrates’ unions, at the origin of the complaints aimed at Eric Dupond-Moretti, accuse him of having continued to instruct them, being judge and party. Matignon had ended up regaining control of these two files. What will happen now? Response elements.
An appeal in cassation lodged against the dismissal judgment
At the exit of the CJR, Eric Dupond-Moretti’s lawyers announced that they had “immediately lodged an appeal in cassation against this judgment”. This appeal suspends the effects of the order for reference. Rémi Lorrain emphasized that he belonged “now it is up to the plenary assembly of the Court of Cassation to take up this file”, with a new decision on the whole procedure, “and to comment in particular on the many irregularities that have plagued this file for two years”.
Eric Dupond-Moretti’s lawyer notably questioned the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, François Molins, whom he accuses of having had a “atypical positioning since disloyal and biased” in that case. The former public prosecutor of Paris had took the pen in The world to denounce a “conflict of interest”, before announcing a few months later, in January 2021, the opening of a judicial investigation targeting the Keeper of the Seals.
Several possible options following the re-examination of the file
As explained on franceinfo on Monday, Eric Dupond-Moretti’s other lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, the Court of Cassation “will examine both the merits of the case and the procedure, since all the appeals filed by his lawyers are now” before this body. It may take several months before the Court considers it.
The Minister’s defense recalls that the two procedures aimed at the magistrates of the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office and the judge Edouard Levrault were initiated by Nicole Belloubet. And Christophe Ingrain insists that before launching an administrative inquiry into the three PNF magistrates, Eric Dupond-Moretti had “turned to different scholars, including François Molins, who had advised the opening” of such an investigation. The Parisian echoed it in July 2021.
Several options are now on the table. The Court of Cassation can validate the dismissal of the Keeper of the Seals before the CJR and things resume where they were, with the prospect of a trial. It can also validate the referral, after having canceled parts of the procedure. Another possibility: the Court decides not to dismiss Eric Dupond-Moretti and calls for acts additional information to the CJR Investigation Commission. The minister and his advisers had notably requested that François Molins be heard.
His continuation in government once again questioned
The Keeper of the Seals expected this decision. “I have the virtual certainty of being referred to a court panel. I will defend my rights there like any litigant”, he said during the presentation of the justice budget on September 27. However, his referral to the CJR will not fail to raise the question of his retention in government once again.
“When he was appointed [en juillet 2020], the two main unions of magistrates had spoken of a ‘declaration of war’. It is neither more nor less than a judicial translation of this declaration of war”, estimates the entourage of Eric Dupond-Moretti with franceinfo. And to recall that the Minister “brought 27 texts to Parliament, obtained a historic budget for justice, which increased by 26%. That did not prevent him from working and he will continue to do so”.
Nor did the prospect of seeing his minister referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic prevent Emmanuel Macron from appointing him again for his second term. It is therefore unlikely that the future of Eric Dupond-Moretti in the government will be compromised at this stage.
“The legitimacy of the minister is still very affected, considers on franceinfo Céline Parisot, president of the Union of magistrates. Lhe legitimacy of the minister is based on his ability to guarantee the independence of justice, and there is a very big gap. Throughout the investigation, Eric Dupond-Moretti repeated that he had only done “follow the recommendations of his administration”. The person concerned had not yet commented on the decision of the CJR, Monday at midday.