the Constitutional Council opens the way to a possible third trial

The Constitutional Council opened the way, Thursday, September 28, for a possible third trial requested by François Fillon in the case of suspicions of fictitious employment and by Nicolas Sarkozy in the “tapping” case. The Sages have in fact decided to cancel an article of law relating to a procedural point. In the coming months, the Court of Cassation could order a new trial for the former Prime Minister and the former President of the Republic, convicted on appeal in these two cases. The latter filed appeals before the high court.

“The former Prime Minister and candidate for the presidency of the Republic was the victim of an injustice contrary to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic,” reacted François-Henri Briard, François Fillon’s lawyer, in a press release. “For Nicolas Sarkozy, it is a great victory, a snub to the court of appeal which applied a law which is unconstitutional”declared Patrice Spinosi, lawyer for the former president, who had joined the priority question of constitutionality (QPC) initially filed by François Fillon.

An article of the Code of Criminal Procedure repealed

On May 10, 2022, François Fillon was sentenced on appeal to four years of imprisonment, including one year, a fine of 375,000 euros and ten years of ineligibility, for the jobs deemed fictitious by his wife Penelope. During the trial, the court relied on article 385 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to reject an argument from François Fillon’s lawyers concerning the impartiality of the investigation. The former deputy for Sarthe contested the constitutionality of this provision. After examining it in September, the Sages repealed this article of law, considering that its provisions were “contrary to the Constitution”. According to them, they did not respect the rights of the defense and the right to appeal. The Council clarified that this repeal could be invoked in ongoing cases.