Barely built, the court is already too small

In Lille, the idea of ​​a new courthouse dates back more than ten years and Maître Florent Méreau has been following the project for almost as long. It is not difficult to imagine the lawyer’s astonishment when, a few weeks ago, the State services officially warned him that future buildings would be too small: in the new court, more than fifty agents and magistrates will have neither office nor work rooms. “It’s a shame and I’m not proud of the justice of my countrythunders the one who is currently president of the Lille bar. It’s a financial waste, it’s still a shame because we could have built a beautiful court, a judicial city like there is almost everywhere in France. This is a missed opportunity.” However, lawyers and even judges claim to have raised the alarm. In two letters dating from 2020 and 2022 addressed to the Minister of Justice, they expressed serious doubts about this future court, 8000 square meters smaller than the current one. “No one can now claim to be unaware of this predicted catastrophe.“, they warned in one of the two missives. “We were told that we did not understand the project, that we did not understand the rationalization”remembers Maître Méreau today.

“It’s a shame because it’s a missed opportunity. We could have built a beautiful court, a judicial center like those that exist almost everywhere in France.”

Master Florent Méreau

Lawyer-Bâtonnier of the Lille Bar

Why were Lille lawyers not listened to? How can a public building costing 150 million euros be unsuitable even before its inauguration? The project leader, the public agency for justice real estate (APIJ), did not respond to our requests. No more than the manager of the site managed by Eiffage. It was the Ministry of Justice in Paris that provided the first explanation. It is material: “The unusable areas (wall, partition, staircase), numerous within the current courthouse, have been voluntarily restricted with the aim of optimal management”. Then, the services of the Minister of Justice specify that between the start of work in 2022 and today, “16 magistrates, 17 clerks and 9 justice attachés were recruited at the Lille judicial court.” This staffing argument does not convince judicial staff who denounce a lack of anticipation: the future palace is planned to be used for at least 50 years. On the construction site too, workers are wondering. We film with a discreet camera. Those with whom we communicate do not know that they are being recorded. “It’s still crazy to get to this pointsays one of them. There are always modifications, adaptations but this is still a building costing several tens of millions of euros. There they try to rearrange, rethink the interior and see what they need to remove, what they need to sacrifice.“

A building too small due to recent recruitment?

However, the Ministry of Justice confirms that this emergency redevelopment will not be enough. The old court, located one kilometer from the new site and yet dilapidated, will therefore have to continue to operate for several years. Judicial activity will be shared between the two buildings. It is in these buildings inaugurated in 1970 that we meet Pierre Msika. According to this children’s judge and local representative of the magistrates’ union (SM), magistrates, lawyers and litigants will have to commute between the two sites. It takes 30 minutes to walk there and back. Far from ideal, according to him, when time is already running out in justice. “Our days are already pretty damn busyrecalls the magistrate. And this walking time is time when we are not preparing our files, being with the families and making decisions..”

To resolve this situation, the Ministry of Justice indicates that it is looking for a closer building to accommodate staff who will not have space in the new court. Two Lille sites are targeted but their rehabilitation could cost several tens of millions of additional euros.

Among our sources (non-exhaustive list):

Presentation of the project on the APIJ website

Ministry of Justice

Lille Bar

Judicial Union

Lille Town Hall

“They think we make decisions standing in a corridor”: the new courthouse in Lille, under construction, already too small. France 3 Hauts-de-France, 04/30/2024

ANALYSIS OF BUDGET EXECUTION 2022 “Justice” Mission April 2023

Appendix 30 “Justice”, finance law for 2024, additional costs Lille courthouse.